


Impossible

by sunalso



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Happy Ending, Kid Fic, Season/Series 01, Seattle, Skye Ships Fitzsimmons, Time Travel, Ward is not a baby person, baby au, fitz makes a good dad, two scientists and a baby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-05-18 19:02:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14858462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunalso/pseuds/sunalso
Summary: AU S1. Set post 1x07. A strangely familiar man hands Jemma a baby. Where did the little girl come from and who, exactly. are her parents? While a threat looms in Seattle the team searches for answers about their newest edition, who only wants to eat, sleep, and be loved.Beta'd by Gort.





	1. It's A Girl!

_A/N: I wasn't supposed to start *another* fic, but my muse ran away with me and here we are. TW for a very brief mention of pregnancy termination in chapter 2._

****

The press of the crowd was unnerving. There were so many people.

Jemma was worried the communication device in her ear was about to fall out but didn’t dare try to adjust it since the motion would be too conspicuous. She was sweating, and she couldn’t see Fitz, which was making her more panicked than she wanted to admit.

This undercover mission, which was simply to watch for a powered person—who might not show—was getting old quickly.

The crowd swirled and parted for a second, letting her get a glimpse of Ward, who looked the opposite of inconspicuous as he slouched on a bench, holding a paper he obviously wasn’t reading as he scanned the passing faces.

They were at a music festival in Seattle, the weather sunny and bright and it seemed like the entire city had turned out for the event. Jemma was pretending to watch a Ska band, though she wasn’t remotely interested in their brand of very loud music, hoping to catch sight of a man that SHIELD had been informed of who was able to control the temperature of liquid by touching a container. There’d been a grainy security camera photo she’d memorized that morning before the start of the mission.

Really, what harm did someone pose that could keep hot beverages hot and cold ones cold? He could be thermos-man!

She chuckled to herself, then nearly jumped out of her skin as a hand brushed her elbow. Whipping around, she found a not very tall man wearing a hoodie and a hat that shaded his eyes. The rest of his face was obscured behind a bandana. He was clutching a bundle of blankets in his arms.

There was something familiar about him.

“Do I know you?” she asked.

The man didn’t answer, hunching over the bundle in his arms.

“I love you,” he whispered to it in a harsh voice that was barely audible over the loud music, then shoved the bundle into her arms. “Cassie,” he said roughly.

The man’s hands were dirty, though the gold band on his ring finger still shone in the afternoon light. He hesitated a second before letting go.

“Cassie?” Jemma echoed. Those hands…but that didn’t make sense.

“Keep her safe,” the man said, sounding close to tears, though it was hard to tell over the music. Then he was walking rapidly away from her, swallowed up in the crowd.

Jemma looked down at the bundle in her arms. It squirmed and sent up a wail.

A baby. She was holding a baby.

Ward materialized beside her as she moved away from the loud band to stand in the shade of a nearby building. “What was that about?” he asked.

“I don’t know!” Jemma sputtered. “That guy handed me a baby.” The baby’s face was red and blotchy as it howled.

“Make it be quiet,” Ward said.

“How am I supposed to do that?” Jemma unwrapped the baby from all the blankets. It kicked its legs fiercely and waved its arms.

Fitz wove through the crowd to her side. “Is that a baby?” he asked.

“Oh, what does it look like?” she snapped. Was the baby—Cassie?—hungry? Tired? “I think she’s maybe five months old, but I’m hardly an expert. The guy called her Cassie.”

Jemma shifted the baby and cuddled the little thing against her shoulder. The tear-streaked face was turned towards Fitz, and when Cassie caught sight of him, she held her chubby arms out and sent up another piercing wail.

“Hey, little Monkey,” he said, taking her from Jemma. “Fitzy’s got you.”

To Jemma’s complete astonishment, the baby’s cries trailed off as Fitz snuggled her against his chest. Now that Cassie wasn’t crying, Jemma could tell her big eyes were blue. The wispy hair on her head was light brown, and she had the most adorable round cheeks. She was certainly cute when she wasn’t crying.

Jemma made a face, feeling odd and lost as Fitz patted the baby’s back and cooed to her. “How did you get her to stop crying?” Jemma asked, bewildered and somewhat jealous.

Fitz shrugged. “I have no idea.”

Ward grimaced and turned to the side, holding a hand to his ear. “Coulson says we need to get back to the Bus. The mission’s been blown.”

Jemma nodded, not worried about anything besides Cassie, who was gazing at her over Fitz’s shoulder.

“I guess I’ll call the cops to come and get her,” Ward said.

Jemma frowned. “No.” She shook her head. “Cassie was given to me. There are thousands of people here, and there’s nothing about me that says I’d be the perfect person to abandon your kid with. And I’m a SHIELD agent. Something’s going on we don’t know about yet.”

Fitz bounced Cassie in his arms. “We should take her back to the Bus and hold onto her until we know more.” He smiled at the baby.

“Fine. Don’t look at me when Coulson throws a fit.” Ward was typing a message on his phone and kept his eyes mostly on the screen as they made their way to where their SUV was parked.

Jemma opened the door, but then froze and blocked Fitz from getting in. “We don’t have a car seat,” she gasped.

“It’s not far,” Ward said.

Fitz put a hand over Cassie’s head. “But…it’s incredibly dangerous.”

Ward crossed his arms and glared.

Jemma pulled her phone from her pocket and powered it on. “Oh, there’s a drugstore the next street over. Maybe they’ll have one. And we need quite a few other supplies.”

She pointed which direction to walk, and Fitz started that way, Cassie’s head against his neck.

“I’ll stay here,” Ward said, gesturing at the SUV.

“You will not,” Jemma replied tersely. “We need someone to carry stuff.”

****

Fitz couldn’t stop looking at Cassie. She was adorable. Neither he nor Simmons had any siblings, and he had never even held a baby until an hour ago, but Cassie was completely precious in a way he hadn’t expected.

Currently, she was sleeping in her car seat as Ward drove them to the hanger where the Bus was parked. The car seat was in the middle of the SUV’s rear seat, and while the box had assured him that the seat had exceeded all safety requirements, Fitz had been less than impressed as he’d strapped it into place. There were at least fifty modifications he could make that would vastly improve its protective capacity, and those were only the most obvious ones he’d thought of off the top of his head.

Jemma was sitting facing the baby, the corners of her mouth turned down and the fingers of one hand resting on the pink blanket that Cassie was snuggled under.

It was a bit disconcerting in a way he couldn’t define. Like he hadn’t ever really thought about Simmons and babies in the same context before. Or much about babies period. Now…ugh, he didn’t know. It just looked right somehow.

Ward went through a security checkpoint at the airport and drove to the hanger and up onto the Bus’s rear ramp. As soon as the car was parked, he was out and brushing past Skye, who’d just come down the stairs. She made a face at his back as he clanged up the metal steps.

“Hey, guys,” she called. “The sound was kind of garbled on our end, and Ward’s texts didn’t make sense. What happened?”

Jemma undid her seatbelt and got out of the SUV. “Someone handed us a baby.”

“What?” Skye asked, wrinkling her nose. Fitz looked at Cassie. She was awake, with her eyes wide open.

“C’mon, Monkey, time to get you out of there,” he said, undoing the woefully inadequate harness of the car seat.

“Let me get some of the things out of the back,” Jemma said. The instant she wasn’t in view, Cassie let out a full pitched howl. Fitz quickly untangled her from the harness and picked her up, but this time she didn’t stop. He scrambled out of the car, not sure what to do.

Skye was gaping.

“Simmons,” he called, but she was already heading for them, her hands fluttering.

“Shh,” she said, putting a hand on Cassie’s back. The baby turned her head towards Jemma, and her cries trailed off. Fitz shared a glance with Simmons. “I guess she likes us both?” Jemma bit her lip.

“Yeah. What a naughty Monkey you are.”

Cassie put a hand on his face, and his heart melted. She was so vulnerable. And alone. Something ached inside him. It wasn’t right. She should be loved and treasured.

“I think she needs to be changed,” Jemma said, leaning against his shoulder and stroking a finger over Cassie’s hair while the baby patted his face. The ache in his chest grew. “Skye, can you get the supplies out of the car and bring them to the lab, please?”

“Sure,” she said, not moving for another moment. She was watching him, Simmons, and Cassie, with her head tilted to the side and wearing a puzzled expression.

“Now,” Jemma said in a clipped tone, walking to the lab. Fitz trailed behind.

Jemma immediately pulled out one of the water baths they used to warm graduated cylinders. She wiped it down, even though he knew for a fact she kept everything meticulously clean, filled the reservoir, and started it running.

“For the bottle,” she said in response to his raised eyebrow.

Skye, loaded down with bags, came huffing through the door. “Did you buy the entire store?”

“It’s not like we had any supplies here,” Jemma said, grabbing the can of powdered formula and frowning at the directions.

It was becoming increasingly obvious that Cassie was wet and needed changing. With her in one arm, Fitz located what he needed.

Spreading out a padded changing blanket on the floor, he set Cassie down on her back and ripped the tags off a yellow stuffed elephant. There hadn’t been a lot of toys to choose from, but he’d found it incredibly sad that she didn’t have any and had bought every single one that Simmons had approved as age-appropriate.

“Here comes Mr. Ears,” he said to Cassie, walking the elephant across the floor to her. She squealed happily and grabbed for the stuffed animal. He let her have it and laughed as she immediately bit down on the poor elephant’s leg.

He glanced up to find Skye and Simmons staring at him.

“Mr. Ears?” Skye mouthed.

Simmons didn’t say anything, just stood there clutching a pink bottle. The look on her face was one he’d never seen before, and he had to look away after a few seconds. He understood Jemma so well that to abruptly not know what she was thinking was uncomfortable. He returned his attention to the baby.

“I’m going to change the Monkey!” he said, smiling as Cassie waved the elephant at him.

The outfit she had on was simple and looked homemade. Fitz quickly undid the snaps holding it together and removed it and the soaked cloth diaper. Cassie didn’t seem worried at all about being naked.

“That’s an excellent way to be peed on.”

Fitz looked up at May as she knelt beside him.

“You want to have the next one ready before you take the old one off,” May said, handing him several baby wipes. As he cleaned Cassie, she made faces at him.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I’ll make something so those wipes are warm from now on.”

May patted his shoulder and set the diaper and a new pink onesie beside Cassie.

It took Fitz two tries, but he secured the diaper and managed to get her into the onesie. The socks were more of a challenge, and he apologized for having to grab her tiny foot by kissing her toes, which made her smile and laugh. The sound went right to his heart.

Really, who knew babies were so wonderful?

****

“It’s a good thing that wasn’t a dirty diaper,” Jemma muttered as she measured out the formula and screwed the lid onto the bottle. Fitz probably wouldn’t have appeared nearly so capable and gag-free if that’d been the case.

Skye leaned against the counter. “I really didn’t think Fitz would be so…I don’t know, good? With a baby?”

Jemma frowned and shook the bottle rather more violently than she probably needed to. Her whole world was off kilter. “He’s always been excellent at nearly everything,” she said. “I don’t see why this should be any different.”

Skye snorted. “Uh, whatever.” She flicked her hair over her shoulder and dropped her voice. “Do you think Coulson’s mad at us?”

May was helping Fitz, but Coulson had his arms crossed and was standing just inside the lab, looking askance at the baby items strewn over the normally pristine counters and floor.

Jemma shrugged, then busied herself with the bottle and preparing some basic tests to run on Cassie. It wasn’t like they could just ignore the fact they knew nothing about her.

Fitz stood with Cassie in his arms. May was smiling at the baby, who had her stuffed elephant in one hand. With the other, Cassie reached up and grabbed one of Fitz’s curls and tugged.

“Hey now, Monkey,” he said, but made no move to stop her. Warmth flooded Jemma, and she took a sharp breath. What was wrong with her? She felt flustered, and really, it was just Fitz holding a baby.

Coulson cleared his throat. “This is not a situation that this mobile base is in any way set up for.”

“I’m well aware,” Jemma said, feeling defensive. “But someone handed a SHIELD agent a baby and disappeared. We have a duty to investigate.”

“And that required six-hundred dollars’ worth of baby supplies?” Coulson asked.

Fitz grimaced. “She had nothing,” he said, walking over to Coulson and finally untangling Cassie’s fingers from his hair.

Coulson sighed. “She can’t stay here. We’re not set up for a baby.” Fitz held Cassie out, and Coulson took her after a moment’s hesitation. She leaned against him and bounced slightly, smiling up at him.

“Her name’s Cassie,” Fitz said. “And she doesn’t have anyone in the world right now except us.”

Coulson was frowning down at Cassie. “I was thinking…placement with…”

Cassie giggled and patted his chest with her hands. “Buh,” she said. “Buh!”

“Sir?” Jemma asked. She checked the bottle and, finding it sufficiently warmed, walked towards Coulson and Cassie. She brought along the supplies for the blood test she was going to need to do.

The baby was babbling and smiling up at Coulson. “Maybe she can stay for a bit,” he relented.

“We bought lots of baby proofing stuff at the store,” Fitz said, gesturing at the bags.

Coulson nodded. “I’ll have May and Ward start working on it.”

May grumbled something under her breath but picked up a pack of outlet covers.

“Hold her tight for a moment,” Jemma whispered to Coulson, nabbing one of her little feet and pulling down the sock so she could prick Cassie’s heel. She glanced over at Fitz, who was wincing and looking down at the floor.

Honestly. “It’s just a quick owie so we can know more about you,” Jemma said to Cassie, pushing the lancet against the baby’s foot and gathering the sample as Cassie’s face screwed up for what looked like an epic cry.

Jemma got the sample, set it on the counter, and pulled Cassie into her arms. She had the bottle in the baby’s mouth nearly instantly. Cassie looked surprised, but then eagerly started nursing, her momentary pain forgotten.

Supporting Cassie with one arm, Jemma retrieved her sample and nodded to Fitz, who only looked a little green as he pipetted the blood into the equipment that would run a series of basic tests on it.

Once done, Fitz stood beside her, smiling at Cassie, who was watching them both closely.

Skye sat at a computer terminal and began to run through security camera footage from the music festival, looking for the man who’d been carrying Cassie.

The baby finished the entire six ounces, and Fitz retrieved a burp cloth, slinging it over his shoulder like he’d been doing so for his entire life. He propped Cassie up and patted her back. He giggled with her when she belched.

Almost immediately, she settled down and closed her eyes. Fitz hummed and rocked her gently, and Jemma couldn’t help but stand with him and watch Cassie as she slumbered.

The tests were going to take a while, and Coulson left, telling them to notify him if anything interesting showed up. Fitz claimed a stool and Jemma sat beside him. She tried to read an article on her phone but kept stopping to look at Fitz as he hummed snatches of lullabies to Cassie.

When the computer beeped that some of the test results had come back, Jemma indicated that Skye should pick up a tablet and read what they were.

She flipped through a couple of screens, and her mouth fell open. “Guys…” she said.

“What?” Jemma whispered as Cassie squirmed a little.

Fitz rubbed a hand on Cassie’s back and glared at Skye, who was still staring at the tablet. She shook herself and went to the intercom. “Coulson, get down here.”

Jemma shushed her in tandem with Fitz.

A minute later, Coulson, May, and a grumpy-looking Ward entered the lab.

“This better be good,” Ward grumbled.

Cassie lifted her head.

“Damn it,” Fitz said. “You woke her.” He retrieved Mr. Ears and handed the toy to Cassie, who took it but wasn’t fully awake yet. She snuggled against Fitz and stuck one of the elephant’s feet in her mouth.

Ward crossed his arms.

“So, what’s going on, Skye?” Coulson asked.

Jemma leaned towards Fitz at the same time he swayed in her direction. She could feel his tension, and pressed her hands to her jaw, trying to calm her own apprehension. Surely, whatever the results were showing they couldn’t be too bad. Hopefully, Cassie wasn’t ill. Jemma wasn’t sure she could handle that.

“Well…” Skye said, making a face. “You guys are never going to believe this.”

“Oh, just get on with it,” Jemma snapped, dropping her hands and curling one around Fitz’s arm.

“Hold your horses. This is weird. Okay—” Skye smoothed down the front of her blouse. “SHIELD’s amazing DNA technology found Cassie’s parents.”

“That’s good,” Fitz said, sounding like it was anything but good. She could feel him tighten his hold on Cassie.

“Maybe?” Skye took a deep breath and turned the tablet around. “Fitz, Simmons…Cassie is your baby.”


	2. Sugar and Spice

Fitz blinked. There was a buzzing in his head and a warm weight in his arms. Cassie wiggled, and he adjusted her. Her head wobbled and thunked into his jaw, but it didn’t hurt, and Cassie hadn’t seemed to mind, so he didn’t either.

People were talking, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. They sounded so far away.

Cassie was his daughter.

That was impossible.

His and Jemma’s.

That seemed even more impossible.

After a moment, he shifted the baby away from himself and looked down at her. She was still chewing on her toy and gazed back at him with solemn, blue eyes. Ones that looked an awful lot like what he saw in the mirror every morning.

A hand gripped his shoulder, and he glanced to the side to see Jemma appeared just as stunned as him. She grabbed a fluffy blanket and pulled him and Cassie over to one of the tables. Once the blanket was spread out, he carefully laid Cassie onto it. She kicked her legs and smiled around the toy in her mouth.

“She has your eyes,” Jemma whispered, then frowned. “And your ears. Actually, she looks quite a bit like you.”

“A little,” he said, running a finger over Cassie’s cheek. “But thankfully her nose is all yours, and the shape of her face is much more you than me.”

“I think her mouth looks like yours.” Jemma caught one of Cassie’s feet in her hand. “And she doesn’t have enough hair to tell who’s it’s like.”

“What’s there is brown and straight. I think it’ll be like yours.” He hoped. His was rather unmanageable, and he wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

Cassie grabbed his finger when he lifted it away from her face, and he let her cling to it.

Jemma had taken off Cassie’s sock and was studying her toes. “Really more like yours.”

“Not her pinkie toe. That’s all you.”

“Uh, guys?” Skye said, rather more loudly than she needed to.

“What?” Fitz glancing up and realizing everyone was staring at him and Jemma.

Coulson had an eyebrow raised. “This wasn’t in your files. Nothing about a pregnancy. Or fraternization. Or…when? When did you two have time in the last year at Sci-Ops to make and have a baby?”

“And then give her up,” Skye added, looking close to tears.

“We…I…there was no baby making,” Jemma said flatly, and Fitz felt himself blush.

“No baby making,” he echoed. He had to be bright red because his ears were burning. He shared a glance with Simmons. She appeared as confused as he was. Though now his brain was stuck on Jemma and baby making. Something that was usually completely taboo because she was Jemma, his partner, his other half, and he’d always been too terrified of mucking up the most important relationship in his life to consider…baby making, as part of it.

Coulson sighed and gestured towards Cassie. “Yet, there’s your daughter.”

A fresh wave of buzzing washed through Fitz’s skull.

He had a daughter. One that had dropped her toy and was currently trying her best to get her foot in her mouth.

“Fitz, stay with me.” Jemma had a hand on his chest and was peering anxiously into his face. “Look,” she said to everyone. “I don’t know how this happened. I can’t imagine not remembering being pregnant or giving birth. And there’s never been a period of time I can’t account for. Certainly not one where I could have secretly had a baby, especially with a man I’ve never, uh…” She trailed off and swallowed hard. “Even egg harvesting would require multiple periods of being unaware of my actions for a length of time.”

“You’ve never been gone,” Fitz said. “For the last seven years, I’ve known exactly where you were almost every minute of every day. So, unless my memory was altered as well…no, there’s no way.”

Ward scoffed. “Sure. Jemma, did you have an abortion?”

Jemma’s nose wrinkled. “Excuse me?”

“It’s a plausible theory. You were banging your lab partner, got knocked up, and had to get rid of the evidence. For some reason, the embryo was saved and incubated elsewhere. Ending up with—” he waved in Cassie’s direction.

Jemma picked up Cassie, who immediately grabbed her mother’s—Fitz’s heart nearly stopped at the word—ponytail and happily pulled at it. “I can’t…” Jemma made a face. “Ward, that’s an amazing lack of understanding of basic biology. And for the record, Fitz and I have never done anything that could possibly result in us having a biological daughter.”

Fitz rubbed at his temple. “We don’t know what’s going on, okay? It’s not like we had any idea this was going to happen.”

“I do have to say,” May tilted her head. “That neither of you seemed as shocked as I would be if I was suddenly told I had a five-month-old little girl with my best friend.”

Jemma pursed her lips. “I don’t…” She trailed off and looked at him.

“It’s just—” he started.

“—our lives are very—”

“—intertwined. And—”

“—having a daughter—”

“—while not something I’ve thought of before today—”

“—a surprise, but if there’s anyone—”

“—I could work with to raise a child—”

“—it’s Fitz. We can do this together.”

Cassie babbled and bounced in Jemma’s arms, reaching for Fitz.

“Want to come see Daddy, Monkey?” He didn’t have time to brush away the tears on his cheeks before he was holding Cassie and she was pulling at his shirt. It was all so overwhelming.

Skye appeared misty-eyed as well. “You’re going to keep her?”

“Of course,” Jemma said, frowning. “She’s mine.” Fitz wanted to kiss her. There was no way anyone was taking Cassie away from him, and it was a relief to know Simmons felt the same. Only now he was thinking about kissing her.

Okay, none of that. Not when he was holding an amazing little being whose creation could reasonably have started with kissing.

He really needed to focus on something else.

“We need to find out more about where she came from.” Coulson crossed the room, stopping to pick up a set of oversized plastic keys from a bag and tearing off the packaging. “Fitz, Simmons, you two are officially assigned baby duty by default of genetics.”

Fitz nodded, passing over Cassie to Coulson when he held his hands out for her. Coulson dangled the keys in front of Cassie, and she reached a chubby hand for them, only to be stymied when Coulson hid them behind his back. She grumped and tried to peer over his shoulder.

“You made a really cute baby,” Skye said.

Fitz blushed again.

“She’s smart too,” Jemma said, pride in her voice. “She’s already mastered object permanence.” Cassie was pulling at Coulson’s sleeve and squealed in delight when he brought the keys out from behind his back.

Ward looked heavenward and stomped out.

May was leaning against the wall and smiling at Coulson. “You let me know if you need any help,” she said softly to Fitz.

“Thank you,” Fitz said, absently dragging one of the shopping bags over and pulling out a bottle of lavender baby shampoo. He couldn’t quite imagine May being the baby type, but he also couldn’t imagine having a baby of his own.

He picked up the tablet with the results from the blood tests, noting that Cassie appeared completely healthy. A quick skim through the genetics part showed there was no wiggle room, Cassie was certainly his and Jemma’s. He switched over to a web browser and searched for articles on childcare. He had an awful lot to learn.

Which he would. Cassie deserved the best possible dad. She was his monkey, and he would never leave her.

“Hey,” Skye said, pushing at his shoulder. “Kind of a big surprise, huh?”

“Really big,” he didn’t raise his eyes from where he was reading about how much and what Cassie needed to eat.

“You’ve honestly never thought about Simmons and baby making before?”

His eyes darted over to where Jemma was standing with Cassie and Coulson, before returning to the tablet. “No.”

“Nice try,” Skye said, winking at him and pushing on his shoulder again before walking over to Jemma.

What was that supposed to mean?

****

Jemma sighed and sat on the edge of her bed. The portable crib had been set up in her bunk, leaving very little room to move.

Fitz was saying goodnight to Cassie, which involved a lot of kisses, all of which Cassie smiled at.

She was a very happy baby.

Jemma still hadn’t quite processed that Cassie was hers. And Fitz’s. For Jemma’s entire adult life she’d been rushing forward as fast as possible, throwing herself into a new project as soon as the last was completed. Striving to be the best at everything. She liked that. Enjoyed it. She loved pushing her mind to its limits and then just a little further. Fitz was part of that. He helped her be her best self.

But having a family?

It hadn’t been on her agenda. At least not anytime soon. Relationships had been shoved aside for years now.

She didn’t need them. She had Fitz for company. Her thoughts faltered. He’d said something about always knowing where she was, which should have been creepy, but she always knew where he was as well, even if she wasn’t there with him.

They were…she didn’t even know how to define her and Fitz.

Cassie burbled something.

They were parents.

“I think my monkey is getting sleepy,” Fitz said, rocking Cassie gently as she gave a huge yawn. Her eyes closed. Carefully, he handed her to Jemma. After a moment of hesitation, he put his arm around Jemma’s shoulders. “She’s really beautiful, Jems.”

“She is.” Jemma hugged Cassie a little tighter. “Is…is it okay if I already love her? I haven’t even been her mum for an entire day yet.”

Fitz’s thumb made comforting little circles on her shoulder. “I love her too.”

Jemma relaxed a tiny bit. No matter what happened, neither her nor Fitz was going through this alone. They had each other.

“I should get some rest,” Fitz said, looking reluctant to leave. “I’ll just be right next door if you need anything. Or Cassie needs anything.”

She smiled at him. “Thank you.”

With one last kiss to Cassie’s forehead, he opened the door to Jemma’s bunk and walked out. The slight noise caused Cassie’s eyes to open. Jemma mumbled something soothing and rocked her, but it didn’t help. The baby’s gaze darted frantically around. Her little face screwed up and she let out an unearthly, very loud, sob.

“Hey!” Ward called, banging on the wall on his bunk. “Some of us are trying to sleep.”

Jemma shushed Cassie, but she didn’t stop. The door to Jemma’s bunk opened, and Fitz came barreling back in. Cassie’s crying immediately decreased to sad little hiccups while she gazed at Fitz with her lower lip stuck out in a pout, her expression one of complete betrayal.

“What do we do?” Jemma asked, bewildered. “I don’t think she wants either of us to go.”

Fitz crossed his arms and looked at the floor for a moment before raising his eyes to hers. “I guess I can sleep here?”

Jemma glanced at the not very big bed, then at the tiny human in her arms who seemed abnormally talented at getting her way.

“I think it’s better than having her cry,” Jemma said.

Fitz didn’t even hesitate. He pulled off his shoes, unknotted his tie, and untucked his shirt. When he undid his belt, Jemma had to look away because something in her belly started to warm up, but it was a something she didn’t want to mentally examine while holding a baby. Instead, she one-handedly loosened her own clothing and took out her ponytail holder.

Cassie immediately grabbed Jemma’s hair as it tumbled down and yanked hard enough to make her wince.

“None of that, sweetheart,” Fitz mumbled, getting Cassie to open her fist. “Mummy doesn’t like her hair pulled.”

Jemma’s cheeks heated up as several hair-pulling scenarios she wouldn’t mind too much raced through her head, all of which were suddenly starring her best friend. Fitz, thankfully, seemed oblivious.

She had to turn away from him, spending more time arranging pillows and pulling the blankets on the bed down than was needed. She crawled to the far side of the bed, Cassie in her arms.

“Should I put her in her crib?” Fitz asked, his brow creased.

“Once she goes to sleep,” Jemma said.

He nodded, fussed with the pillows, then slid in next to her, but remaining with his shoulders propped up against the headboard. He was as stiff as a board, but relaxed when Jemma passed Cassie to him. He laid her belly down on his chest and Cassie snuggled against him like she always slept that way. There wasn’t much room on the bed and Jemma thought about scrunching up against the wall, but she didn’t want to. She wiggled, trying to get comfortable.

“Everything okay?” Fitz asked. “You’re squirming.”

Jemma sighed, then worked herself around and tucked herself against Fitz’s side. She laid her head on his shoulder. “Is this alright?” she whispered.

“Yeah, it’s good.” There was a beat. Then he leaned his head down until his cheek was against her forehead and his breath was tickling the hair at her temple.

A knot in Jemma’s chest unwound itself, leaving her slightly breathless. She closed her eyes and nuzzled against Fitz’s shoulder. His familiar scent was comforting after how strange the day had been. And it wasn’t like they hadn’t fallen asleep curled together before. They often watched movies on the couch more or less like this and sometimes it was too much effort to get up and move.

Cassie burbled, and Jemma smiled. Their daughter was feisty and strong-minded. Just how Jemma would have supposed any little girl of theirs would be. It seemed strange she’d never thought of creating an actual family with Fitz before one had literally been shoved into her arms, but lying here with him and Cassie, it all seemed so normal. Like a life that had just been waiting for them.

Sleep crept up on her as she listened to the beat of Fitz’s heart.  

****

It was still dark when Jemma awoke. She remained snuggled with Fitz, who was sound asleep. His hand was lax where it rested over Cassie’s back and his head sagging to the side, propped against Jemma’s.

Cassie grumped, wiggled, and grumped again.

Fitz inhaled sharply, finally waking up.

Cassie wiggled harder. “Buh!” she said.

“Are you hungry?” Jemma asked.

“Buh,” Cassie declared, sounding decidedly unhappy.

“She certainly is your daughter,” Jemma said, patting a sleepy Fitz’s shoulder as he stood up. “Let’s go to the lab and get you a bottle,” Jemma told Cassie, then sniffed. “And change you.”

Fitz’s eyes flew wide open. “How about you go to mummy?” he said, trying to hold Cassie out to Jemma, though the baby clung to his shirt.

“You can carry her downstairs,” Jemma said.

Fitz paled.

“And clean her while I make her bottle.”

His eyes darted down to the less than happy Cassie. His shoulders slumped. “Mummy’s being bossy,” he grumbled to her as he followed Jemma out into the hallway.

They tiptoed down the stairs, not wanting to disturb anyone, and Jemma only put a few lights on in the lab.

Fitz, jaw set in grim determination, gathered the changing supplies and kneeled on the floor, setting Cassie on the changing pad.

Jemma started the water bath heating and set about making the bottle.

“Are you sure you can’t do this?” Fitz said.

“It’s good for you to learn,” she replied. “And it’s basic baby care. You’ll be fine.”

“What if I heave?” he asked, glancing down at Cassie. His face was taking on an unpleasant shade of green.

“It’s not a cat liver, Fitz. She’s your daughter.”

Fitz said something under his breath but set about unsnapping Cassie’s onesie. Jemma continued to prepare the formula. She ignored the muffled string of oaths from Fitz’s direction, as well as the startled: “How was that all inside you?”

By the time the bottle was warm, Fitz had gotten Cassie into a new diaper. The dirty one was rolled up and set far to the side. Her onesie was still undone, and Jemma grinned as Fitz bent over and blew a raspberry on Cassie’s tummy, making her squeal and giggle.

“I see you’re still alive,” she said, sitting down beside Fitz.

“It was a bloody near thing. Our Monkey can be quite the biohazard.” He tugged down her onesie and fastened the snaps. Jemma picked Cassie up and shuffled over to the nearest cabinet on her knees, settling down and leaning back against it with her legs stretched out. Fitz sat shoulder to shoulder with her.

Cassie opened her mouth and eagerly latched onto the bottle.

“Hungry, weren’t you?” he said, tickling her knee and making her grin. Formula leaked out of the corner of her mouth, and Jemma caught it with a finger, frowned, and wiped it on Fitz’s shirt. He snorted at her but didn’t move away. “She’s very comfortable with us, isn’t she?.” Fitz placed his hand on Jemma’s leg, the heat of his palm more noticeable through her trousers than it should have been.

“It is a little odd,” Jemma said. “She very attached, even though we’re strangers to her. She could have just as easily wanted Ward to hold her, or May.”

“There’s not some way she knows we’re her parents, is there?” The hope in his voice made her heart break a little until her mind full registered what he was saying.

“Well, no. It’s not like babies can detect similar DNA…but what if she does know us?”

Fritz’s brow furrowed. “I hate to say this, but you’re going to have to explain.” His lower lip crept out a fraction. He hated when she made a logic jump he didn’t follow.

“We know for sure there’s absolutely no way I had her during the last year, but what if she’s not from our past but from our future?”

“Time travel—”

“It shouldn’t be possible, yes, but if anyone could figure it out, it would be us. The man that gave her to me…his hands, Fitz. I thought I recognized them.”

“Are you saying I…no, absolutely not. I would never, never give Cassie up.”

Jemma leaned against Fitz. “The man said he loved her.” She didn’t mention the wedding ring and the implications of it. “Maybe something terrible happened in the future, and we thought this was the only way to save her.” Jemma was trembling. “It would have to be a…a…world ending event, for me to…”

Fitz slid his arms around her, and she twisted so that she was leaning into the hug, Cassie between them, drinking her formula and oblivious to the turmoil her parents were going through.

“We’ll stop it. Whatever it is,” Fitz said. “We’ll keep the world safe for our daughter.”

She believed him, no doubt whatsoever. When Fitz put his mind to solving something, that thing got solved.

They stayed wrapped up together until Cassie finished her meal. Fitz stood and helped Jemma to her feet. She handed the sleepy Cassie to him and went to the sink to wash out the bottle. She turned around and leaned against the counter when she was done.

“We need to find a way to test if Cassie is from the future,” Jemma said.

Fitz looked alarmed.

“We have her clothes and blankets.” Jemma grabbed the small bundle of what Cassie had been wrapped in when she arrived.

Fitz visibly relaxed.

She cleared the baby stuff from one counter and spread out the plain onesie and blankets on it. They all looked handsewn. She ran her fingers over the fabric. Who had made these things for Cassie? Had it been her? Were things so bad that you couldn’t buy blankets and clothes from a store?

Fitz was holding Cassie with one arm as he pulled up a series of programs on a computer. She was asleep, her cheek pressed against his shoulder.

Jemma couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth. Fitz hated change, yet here he was stepping into his role as Cassie’s father with quiet determination. She ran her fingers absently over the threads that hemmed the blanket in her hands. Unlike the other two, the stitching on this one was more intricate. It was a non-repeating pattern of red and green threads that looked like it had taken a great deal of work. She wondered why future her had bothered if civilization was falling apart.

Fitz looked at her over his shoulder. “Simmons, do you think you can take a look at this? I have an idea having to do with atomic spin, but I’m not sure if my theory is correct?”

She set the blanket down and walked over to stand beside Fitz and their daughter. Everything felt like normal, her and Fitz in a lab together, even with the addition of Cassie.

Jemma pressed her shoulder to Fitz’s. It was time to take the first steps towards saving the world.


	3. Inestimable Blessing

Jemma was tidying up the results of the tests on Cassie’s clothing and trying not to spend too much mental energy on the terrifying conclusion she and Fitz had reached that Cassie was their daughter from the future.

Fitz and she had run, and rerun test after test, but all of them had given the same results.

As the sun rose, Jemma was faced with the very real fact that a future her and a future Fitz had created Cassie, seen the world end, and become desperate enough to give their daughter to their past selves.

It was a lot more than she could wrap her mind around.

Especially the part about Cassie being conceived. Butterflies took flight in Jemma’s belly, and she had to stop what she was doing and take a deep breath.

It was only that she could so easily imagine Fitz’s eyes gazing deep into her own as he…

Nope.

Jemma fisted her hands into the fabric of her trousers. Which were at least clean. While one of the tests had been running, she and Fitz had carried Cassie upstairs and hurriedly changed clothes. At least no one could fault them for looking tired since they were caring for a baby. She was fairly certain sleeplessness was normal for parents of very young children.

She had convinced Fitz that wearing a tie was a bad idea because it just provided something for Cassie pull on, so he’d ended up in a blue-plaid button up, the sleeves rolled up, and the top of the collar unfastened. Jemma had opted for jeans and a black shirt that she had only later realized screamed ‘mum’. Nothing to be done for it now.

Currently, while Jemma worked, Fitz was perched on a chair with Cassie on his lap. He was spooning pureed bananas mixed with formula into Cassie’s mouth. Jemma hoped at least some of it was getting into Cassie’s tummy, because there seemed a terrible lot of it on her face, her hands, the chair, the floor, in Fitz’s hair, and most inexplicably, on the ceiling. But Cassie was laughing and so was Fitz, so Jemma found she didn’t mind the mess too much.

“Here comes the spaceship!” Fitz said, making engine noises as he flew the spoon towards Cassie. “The black hole better open up!” Cassie’s mouth opened wide. “Arrghh! Oh no! The black hole’s incredibly strong gravitational pull has caught the ship!” He wiggled the spoon left and right. “It can’t escape! Even light can’t escape! In it goes!” Cassie closed her mouth around the spoon, but then giggled. Drops of banana hit the front of Fitz’s shirt, but he didn’t seem to care as he grinned at their daughter.

“Breakfast and space facts?” Jemma said after dampening a flannel with warm water and carrying it over to them.

“I’m very sorry you never lived during the time when Pluto was a planet,” he said to Cassie. Who responding by rubbing her cheek with a hand and smearing banana into her hair.

Jemma sighed. “Like father like daughter.”

“What?” Fitz said. Jemma put one hand on the side of his head to keep him from moving and rubbed at his curls with the cloth in the other, succeeding in getting the banana out and plastering half his hair to his head.

She rinsed off the rag and handed it to Fitz to finish cleaning up Cassie.

Once the two of them were mostly presentable, Jemma led the way upstairs, carrying Cassie who had Mr. Ears in hand and was banging the toy against Jemma’s shoulder.

Skye, nursing a cup of coffee, smiled and waved at Cassie as they walked past where she was sitting. 

The door to Coulson’s office was open, and he wasn’t alone. Jemma halted and shared a worried look with Fitz.

Ward’s voice was loud. “You’re being duped. They had a baby and didn’t want anyone to know, but now it’s been dumped back in their laps. What about the rule on fraternization—”

“What about it?” Coulson said tersely. He was sitting at his desk, eyes locked with a tense Ward’s.

“Just…a highly classified mobile base is not the place for an infant.”

“I’m well aware. Which reminds me, don’t you have drawer locks to install?”

Ward groaned.

Coulson looked around him and beckoned to Jemma and Fitz. They edged into the room, and Jemma avoided Ward’s less than pleased glare. Coulson held his hands out, and Cassie wiggled in Jemma’s arms.

“Buh!” Cassie exclaimed, waving Mr. Ears as Jemma passed her to Coulson. Once Cassie knew she had his attention, she babbled nonstop at him.

“Really?” he said. “They did? Tell me more.” Cassie grinned as he bounced her on his knee. “You will have to explain your daddy’s hair to me.” Cassie patted the side of her head.

“Did you see that!” Jemma exclaimed, turning to Fitz, who was making a face and feeling the still-damp hair that she’d flattened. “Oh, never mind that. Coulson said hair and she knew exactly what he was talking about.”

“Brilliant,” Fitz mumbled, though there was pride showing on his face that mirrored her own. Their daughter was quite clever, which only made sense, but Jemma loved seeing the proof.

Ward let out a loud sigh. “Do you have a point for being here?” he asked.

Fitz frowned at him. “Yeah, we do. Cassie woke us up in the middle of the night to eat, and Jemma came up with quite a—” He hesitated and glanced at her.

“Quite an outlandish theory,” she said. “But Fitz was able to come up with ways to test it—”

“Based on several theories, one of which Jemma postulated during her graduate work,” Fitz added. “Together we were able to determine Cassie’s origins.”

“It took you how long to figure out where babies come from?” Skye asked, poking her head in the door. “It was open,” she said when everyone turned to look at her.

Fitz flushed bright red. “Well, we, uh…already knew that part.” He coughed, and Jemma patted his back.

“It’s not a question of how,” she clarified. “And I am assuming she was conceived in the traditional method.” Fitz coughed harder. “But it’s the when that is interesting.” She smiled brightly, trying to cover the fact that mental images of traditional conceiving methods were stampeding through her mind.

It seemed all too plausible that as the world fell apart, she and Fitz had continued to find solace in each other. And there’d been the ring the man who’d handed her Cassie had been wearing. A wedding band. It was a detail she hadn’t shared with anyone else because it felt too achingly personal. Cassie hadn’t been created in a moment of weakness, but out of love.

She couldn’t stop herself from glancing at Fitz and wondering.

Wondering how he kissed, how he’d move his tongue, how his lips would feel against hers. Would he be shy? Or would he grab her and maul her mouth with his? Make her moan and clutch his shoulders?

There wasn’t quite enough air in the room.

What would it feel like to have him between her legs? His weight on top of her? Would his brows draw together—in the same way they did when he was working through a difficult equation—right before he—”

“Jemma?” Fitz said, making her jump and flush. She’d completely lost the gist of the conversation. He put a hand on her arm. “Are you okay?”

“Fine, I’m fine. I was turning things over in my head.”

Fitz nodded, not looking entirely convinced. “We’re going to the conference room, so we can show everyone what we found,” he said to her in a low voice. “Are you sure you’re doing alright?”

She ran a hand through her hair and nodded. Alright as she was going to be with suddenly finding out she had a biological daughter with her best friend which had somehow kickstarted her into daydreaming about creating said biological daughter with said best friend.

Oh, dear lord, she had a crush on Fitz. That hadn’t happened, much, since she was sixteen.

Coulson carried Cassie to the conference room, only to have her taken by May as soon as they got there. May propped Cassie on her hip and didn’t flinch as Cassie gleefully alternated between chewing on Mr. Ear’s leg and smacking May’s shoulder with the stuffed animal.

Fitz sent the first slide of their findings to one of the screens and Jemma launched into their explanations. Including that some of the small particles caught in the fabric of the blankets could be interpreted as indicative of massive global destruction.

“Dust can tell you the world ended?” Skye asked when they were done.

“Basically,” Fitz said, his fingers fluttered, and Jemma’s heart melted when he reached for Cassie. May relinquished the baby and he snuggled her close.

Ward was shaking his head and looking at the floor.

“I can’t…” Jemma started and had to stop for a second. The implications were terrifying. “I can’t imagine how bad it is that we would circumvent the laws of reality to try and give our daughter a future. But some of that…dust. It contains material that should only exist near the core of the Earth.”

“And the explanation of that for us who aren’t geniuses?” Coulson asked.

“The earth cracked apart,” she said, voice barely more than a whisper. “The earth was destroyed, and I sent my daughter back in time.” Jemma stumbled towards a chair and sat down hard. In the next moment, Fitz had deposited Cassie into her lap, and Jemma hugged the precious little girl close.

Cassie patted her cheek. “Buh?”

“Mummy’s just sad,” Jemma said. “It’s okay to be sad.” To her surprise, Fitz knelt beside her and wrapped them both in a hug, his eyes tightly closed. Jemma leaned towards him, needing to feel him close. She relaxed the tiniest amount. She wasn’t alone.

“But…” Skye said into the silence. “You, we, someone’s going to fix that, right? Like, make it so the earth is totally not falling apart?”

“We’re going to try,” Jemma said. “If only we knew more.”

“You have to be missing something.” May crossed her arms. “Maybe a letter would have been too dangerous because it would have been difficult to guarantee it would end up in the right hands. If the wrong person had knowledge about the future, who knows what they’d do. But this is you two needing to communicate with yourselves. You would have done it. For her. Therefore, there’s something you’re missing.”

Fitz stood and dragged a hand down his face. “Yeah, yeah. We need to look at Cassie’s clothes and blankets again.”

Jemma pursed her lips. What could future-her have done? How would she encode a message to herself if she needed to?

“Do you have an estimate on how long we have to figure out and stop this?” Ward asked, his expression grim. Coulson was standing with his arms braced on the table, and his head bowed.

“Probably less than five years,” Fitz said. “It’s a bit hard to know exactly, but that’s my best guess.”

Skye made a face. “Look—” She broke off as her phone beeped loudly. “Hey, news alert.” She scanned the story, and her mouth fell open. “Crap, end of the world’s going to have to wait. We have a crisis right now.” She tapped at the table and brought up several local Seattle TV stations. Skye turned up the sound on one of them.

The announcer’s voice was flat. “Following the attack on downtown Seattle this morning, which left dozens of people with severe burns after the coffee they were drinking became superheated, this station received an email from someone claiming responsibility and demanding money and safe-passage. If his demands are not met, he will strike again.”

Everyone in the room stared at the screen as the announcer rehashed the details of the attack. Seattle’s fondness for coffee meant that nearly everyone rushing to work had a cup in hand, and at 7:35 am, hundreds of those had heated past the boiling point, melting cups and burning whoever was holding them.

“Sounds like the guy we were trying to pin down yesterday,” Ward said.

Coulson shook his head. “Can’t be. That guy is supposed to have to touch the container to do something like that.”

“What if he doesn’t?” Skye asked. “Maybe he’s more powerful than we thought?”

“Whatever he is,” Coulson said. “We’re going to go and see if he left a trail.”

Jemma looked down at Cassie, who was starting to nod off. “Sir?” Jemma asked.

Coulson waved a hand in her and Fitz’s direction. “Not you two. You stay here, monitor the news, keep us informed, and start looking for what May was talking about.”

Jemma relaxed and rocked her daughter, who yawned. “Thank you.”

****

Fitz walked beside Skye down the ramp. Ward was waiting in the SUV. May and Coulson were standing beside it, discussing something in hushed tones.

Simmons was already in the lab, pulling feeds from every major news source at setting them to display while Cassie napped on her shoulder.

“Sounds like this mission could take a while,” Skye said. “Meaning it’s just going to be the two of you, alone, with a sleeping baby.”

Fitz raised an eyebrow. “And…?”

Skye shook her head and stopped, turning to face him. “And it might be a good time for you to make your move.”

“My move?” He was completely lost.

“On Jemma?”

He raised his other eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”

Skye’s mouth fell open. “I thought you were smart,” she muttered. “Okay, Mr. Rocket Scientist, let me use small words. Jemma’s been looking at you this morning like she wants to jump your bones.”

Fitz’s stomach did a flip. “She has?”

“Oh my god, how in the hell did you ever have a kid?” Skye rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. “I think Jemma woke up to the fact she likes you. A lot. I mean, it only took undeniable proof that you’d slept together in the future, but whatever.” Skye put a hand on his arm. “If you like her too, maybe try letting her know.”

Fitz put his hands on his hips and looked down. “Of course I like her,” he mumbled.

“Good!” Skye said. “I expect progress when I get back!” She grinned and made a gesture he was going to pretend wasn’t a finger gun, before jogging to join the others in the SUV.

Fitz trudged back onto the bus and hit the button to close the ramp. In the lab, Jemma was reading something on a tablet and Cassie was still asleep, her little hands curled into loose fists.

He was suddenly horribly jealous of his future self because that guy had somehow figured it all out and was Jemma’s boyfriend and probably had practiced baby making with her a bunch before Cassie had been conceived, Right at the moment that all seemed completely impossible to Fitz.

Only…Cassie did exist.

Which logically meant Jemma wasn’t going to simply shoot him down if he did…do something. What was the correct something? Did he ask her on a date when they were already raising their child? Couldn’t future him have sent a blueprint for how to start something romantic with Jemma?

Simmons looked over her shoulder and smiled. “I thought we’d begin with her onesie and go from there.”

“Sure, yeah, great.” He took a step towards the counter it was laying on, but Cassie woke and made a sad little cry. She raised her head, her face turned red, and she grunted.

“Oh,” Jemma said with a laugh.

His heart was stuttering in his chest. “Is Cassie okay?”

“Fine. Just showing how very healthy her digestive system is.”

Fitz immediately came up with ten excuses why it wasn’t his turn to change her diaper, but luckily didn’t need any of them as Jemma set Cassie down on the changing pad and went about cleaning her. He did smile as Jemma pulled wipes from the warmer he’d built last night. It wasn’t fancy, but it had variable temperature and humidity control to make sure the wipes were always ready to go.

Now if only he had any idea what they were looking for as far as messages from the future.

Fitz grabbed a set of glasses with lights and a magnifying glass attachment and picked up the onesie to examine the metal snaps. It was possible they could have been etched with very tiny writing.  But he didn’t see anything besides smooth metal. He squinted and leaned closer.

“Fitz,” Jemma said, sounding resigned. “Cassie’s made rather a mess of herself. There was stuff going all the way up her back. And there was banana in her navel. I think she needs a bath.”

He straightened up and found Jemma standing with a sheepish look on her face. She was holding Cassie, who was dressed in nothing but her diaper. Cassie was frowning at him.

“I think the glasses are confusing her,” Jemma said as Cassie’s pout grew.

“It’s okay, Monkey,” Fitz said. “It’s just Daddy wearing something silly.” He pushed them up, and Cassie giggled and hid her face in her mum’s shoulder. He dropped the glasses back into place, and Cassie peeked at him through her fingers. He pushed them up again, and she giggled harder.

Fitz glanced at Jemma, and the warm look in her eyes nearly floored him.

He pulled the glasses off his face and set them aside as he tried to deal with the surge of emotions in his chest that were leaving him floundering. “Where are we going to bathe her?” he asked, his voice coming out a little high pitched.

“Kitchen sink? It has the spray nozzle.” Jemma’s lips quirked to the side. “We just won’t tell anyone else.”

They sorted through the bags of baby supplies and put together one that was just things they needed for a bath, including shampoo, facecloths, a towel with a hood, and a set of plastic toys in the shape of fish. Fitz picked her an outfit of corduroy pants and a blue shirt that had stars on it.

In the kitchen, Jemma turned the faucet to the side and started the water running while he held Cassie, who was kicking her legs and stretching out her neck to see what her mum was up to. Once the water was the right temperature, Jemma filled the sink up partway. She dumped the fish toys in the sink along with a couple of plastic measuring cups so they could pour water over Cassie.

Fitz removed her diaper and carefully set her into the sink while Jemma studied one of the plastic fish. “I really can’t tell what species this is supposed to be,” she said.

“It’s just a toy.”

“Well, yes, but they could at least make an effort. There’s no reason they can’t be toys and educational.”

Cassie burbled happily and patted at the water.

“Well,” Fitz said. “We can go to the aquarium. Maybe they’d have something better?”

Jemma nodded. “Good idea. It’s never too early to start a proper education.” She dropped the fish back into the sink and Cassie grabbed it. She threw it into the water and laughed at the splash.

Fitz smiled at both of them.

Jemma carefully poured a cup full of water over Cassie’s shoulders and neck. Cassie looked startled for a moment, then thoughtful.

“Buh,” she said. She slapped both hands down into the water, sending up a splash that soaked both Fitz and Simmons and left them sputtering. She giggled and giggled.

“Cheeky little Monkey,” Fitz gasped, wiping the water from his face.

Jemma sighed. Her blouse was clinging to her and Fitz was very aware that he could see every curve of her breasts. Which were very nice. Nice boobs…

A plastic fish hit him in the chest.

Ah, baby.

“Time to get you clean!” he said, tickling Cassie’s tummy. He helped her tilt her head back and shielded her eyes as he poured water over her head. Cassie smiled and kicked, sending more water sloshing out of the sink and down his front.

Not the kind of cold shower he needed, but it would do.

Between him and Jemma they managed to get Cassie clean. Jemma lifted her out and dried her with the towel and Fitz helped get her dressed.

She was yawning by the end, and he put the towel over his shoulder to protect her from his wet shirt as he carried her to Simmons’ bunk. Very carefully he lowered her into the crib. Cassie was already fast asleep, and he covered her with a blanket.

“I’m just going to run and change,” he said, and Jemma patted his chest in response. He did so in record time, pulling on clean everything, though he gave up on a shirt that looked professional and opted for a simple white t-shirt instead. He reentered Simmons’ bunk just as she was pulling her old Academy jumper on. The strip of pale skin on her back that he saw before she tugged the hem down was more tantalizing than it’d ever been.

He wanted to trace her spine with his fingertips.

Instead, he smiled at Jemma when she noticed him standing there like a git.

She sat on the edge of her bunk, and he settled down beside her.

“This is an adventure, isn’t it?” she said, putting her hand over his where it rested on the mattress. Barely daring to breathe, he turned his hand over so they were palm to palm. Jemma didn’t pull away, like he thought she might, instead she laced her fingers with his.

He started to say something about Cassie but stopped. Cassie. “Cassiopeia,” he whispered.

“What’s that?” Jemma asked.

“I bet we named her Cassiopeia,” he said. “Cassie for short. I’m sure that’s what I would name my daughter.”

Jemma’s grip tightened, and she didn’t say anything for long moments. Her voice was choked when she did speak. “I think Skye should put that as her given name on her birth certificate. We’ll have to ask Skye to forge her one. When do you want Cassie to have been born?”

“Don’t rightly know.”

“We’re even going to have to pick a birthday for her.” Jemma let go of him and dropped her head into her hands. “I don’t know my own daughter’s birthday.”

“Hey,” Fitz said. “Hey, it’s alright. Cassie isn’t going to be worried about that. All she’s going to know is that she’s loved and cared for.”

Jemma looked up at him. There was another mule-kick of…of…love in his chest. She looked so unsure of everything. He wanted to make it better, if he only knew how.

She straightened up and wiped at her eyes.

“We’re going to be okay,” he said and cupped her face with his hands. Jemma’s eyelids dropped nearly closed.

“Fitz,” she said, sounding breathless.

He wouldn’t have had the courage to do it if the living proof that Jemma did, at least occasionally, think about him as more than a friend wasn’t sleeping in a crib a few feet away. But Cassie was, so he leaned closer to Jemma and tilted his head slightly.

She licked her lips and her eyes closed completely.

Heart hammering in his chest, Fitz moved closer still, his lips hovering a millimeter over her lush ones.

There was a piercing wail from the direction of the crib.

He and Jemma sprung apart and stood, both blushing and not quite looking at each other.

Fitz scooped his sobbing daughter into his arms. “Impeccable timing, Monkey,” he said. “You were supposed to sleep longer.” The worst of her crying stopped, but she was still obviously unhappy.

“Let’s get her a bottle.” Jemma was still looking at anything other than him. “She’s probably hungry.”

Jemma led the way out of the bunk but stopped in the door so suddenly he nearly ran into her. She turned around and looked up into his face. Cassie squirmed in his arms, and Fitz patted her back.

“Later,” Jemma said, then leaned forward and pecked him on the lips before spinning and nearly running for the stairs.

Fitz knew he was grinning like an idiot. He glanced down at his daughter, who was scowling. “Don’t look now, Cassie, but I think Mummy might like Daddy.”

“Buh,” Cassie said.


	4. Monkey Puzzle

It was late when the SUV returned to the Bus.

Jemma was carefully x-raying one of the blankets Cassie had arrived wrapped in, looking for anything sewn inside of them or potentially even messages that would light up when exposed to radiation.

So far, they had heaps of nothing.

She was being to think her future-self had grossly overestimated her past-self.

Fitz was asleep in a chair, Cassie napping in his arms.

Jemma’s little family. That thought in itself was cheery. Her life from only a few days before seemed impossible now. How had she existed without knowing Cassie?

And Fitz had nearly kissed her earlier.

Jemma's lips tingled just remembering it and she pressed a hand to her cheek. It was just Fitz. She shouldn’t feel like she was…oh, she didn’t know. Like she was falling into him. Or some other romantic nonsense she generally didn’t have time for.

If Cassie hadn’t woken up starving, Jemma wasn’t sure what would have happened, but she strongly suspected that it would have resulted in her being much less on edge than she currently was.  

The sound of the SUV’s door shutting woke up Fitz. He snorted and wiped at his mouth. Then wiped at Cassie’s mouth. Oh, they were so adorably alike.

Jemma switched off the machine she was using as Fitz got to his feet, blinking. He glanced at her.

“No luck yet, I’m afraid.”

He nodded and yawned. Cassie stirred and insisted on being towards the front of the lab, so she could see what was going on. The doors swooshed open, and everyone filed in, looking exhausted.

Ward collapsed onto a stool and began stripping off his field gear. Both Fitz and Jemma cringed as he dropped his night-night pistol onto a table with a clatter.

“I guess since there’s been no breaking news about a suspect being captured that you weren’t successful?” Jemma asked.

May shook her head and went to take Cassie from Fitz. The baby smiled widely at her, and the corners of May’s mouth turned up the smallest amount. Jemma wondered for a moment if she was dreaming.

Skye looked exhausted as she sat down. “There was almost nothing. I’ve now seen and smelt way more of downtown Seattle than I ever wanted to,” she said, pulling off her shoes. “There’s hills. So many hills. Who saw a bunch of steep hills and went: let’s put a city there?”

Fitz shrugged. “Loggers?”

Skye huffed and leaned against the table. “Stop with your smart guy logic.”

Coulson came in, looking much less exhausted than everyone else and holding his hand behind his back. He made a beeline for Cassie.

She twisted in May’s arms and gave Coulson a huge, gummy grin.

“Who’s my favorite girl?” he cooed to her.

Skye’s lower lip stuck out a fraction.

“Buh!” Cassie said, waving her arms.

Coulson brought his hand out from behind his back and waved a toy shaped like a red car at Cassie, who squealed with delight. Coulson looked over at Jemma, wearing a slightly guilty expression. “It’s safe for babies,” he said. “It’s all one piece, no small parts.”

Cassie took the toy and babbled something as Coulson kissed her forehead.

“There was this really cool toy store downtown,” Skye said. “Guess who insisted he take a look.”

“She needs more toys.” Coulson took Cassie from May and hefted her in his arms. “Don’t you?”

Jemma shared a smile with Fitz.

“We brought you two some presents as well,” Coulson said to them.

Fitz perked up. “Do I also get a car?”

“Sorry, you’re not as cute as your daughter.”

Fitz frowned.

“You and Jemma get a bag full of what coffee and cups we could salvage from the attack. It’s in the back of the truck.”

“Fun,” Fitz grumbled, walking out of the lab to retrieve the samples.

“Find any messages yet?” Coulson asked Jemma.

She shook her head. “But we’ll keep looking. There has to be something. May is correct. I absolutely would give myself information on how to make a better world for Cassie.”

“You would,” Coulson agreed, smiling at the baby who now had one wheel of the toy car in her mouth.

Fitz returned, staggering under the weight of the bag over his shoulder and she rushed to help him with it. They immediately began setting up to run basic analyses on every sample in the bag.

It was fifteen minutes before Jemma became aware that the lab was far too quiet. Everyone had disappeared.

“Where’s Cassie?” Jemma whispered, and Fitz’s head whipped around. She hadn’t let either of them out of her sight since the day before. Terror bubbled up in her chest. They both dropped what they were doing and rushed out of the lab. Only to find Coulson with Cassie in his arms, flying her through the air while she laughed and clutched her new toy.

Jemma’s fear stuttered and turned into annoyance.

“What are you doing?” Fitz asked, his face tight.

Coulson settled Cassie against him, appearing not at all sorry that he’d frightened Jemma and Fitz half to death. “I was just showing Lola to Cassie.”

“And what was all the—” Fitz moved his hands through the air.

“She wanted to know how Lola flies,” Coulson said, completely deadpan.

Jemma winced, and Fitz covered his eyes and sighed.

“I’m not going to drop her.” Coulson smiled at Cassie, who was chewing on the toy car again. “You can relax.”

Fitz frowned, holding out his arms and Coulson handed Cassie over. Grumbling, Fitz marched back to the lab with her.

“She probably needs to be fed, and Fitz and l will require a bit of time to fully analyze the samples,” Jemma said.

Coulson crossed his arms. “You two doing okay?”

“Why wouldn’t we be?”

“It’s a lot to be dropped on you all at once.”

Jemma nodded. “We’re doing fine. We love Cassie. Love caring for her.”

Coulson studied her. “Let me or May know if you need anything.”

“Thank you, sir.”

He walked towards the stairs, and she returned to the lab. There was a great deal of work to be done.

****

Jemma woke with a start. She was slumped over a table, her head on her arms. The sample analysis had lasted long into the night. Jemma and Fitz had traded off working and caring for Cassie, and Ward had brought Cassie’s portable crib down for when she’d finally crashed out for a few hours.

Yawning, Jemma checked what was on her tablet, which was a whole lot of nothing. Everything was testing completely normal.

Damn it.

She glanced around the lab, but Cassie and Fitz weren’t there.

Only stumbling a little, she headed out to find them, but she didn’t have to go far.

Fitz and Cassie were lying on the cargo bay’s floor, Cassie on her tummy with a yellow blanket under her and Fitz stretched out, facing her.

“Now look,” he said to Cassie. “This is how it’s done.” He slowly rolled over onto his back. “See?”

Cassie was watching with an intense look of concentration.

Jemma heart did a flip. They were both the cutest things she’d ever seen.

“Hey,” she said, going to sit beside Fitz. He glanced up at her with a smile.

“I read that tummy time was good for her,” Fitz said. “And she’s really close to figuring out how to roll over.”

Cassie kicked her legs enthusiastically.

“So you thought you’d show her?” Jemma asked.

“I thought she might need an example.” Fitz sat up and turned so he was shoulder to shoulder with Jemma and facing Cassie again. There were toys scattered close to her, including Mr. Ears and the red car.

Jemma leaned against him. “You’re a very good example.”

Fitz became still. “I’m going to try,” he said, voice low.

“I know you,” she said. “And I know you will be.”

He was silent for a few moments as Cassie grabbed her stuffed elephant and pulled the toy towards her.

“You’re going to be a great dad,” she said, putting an arm around his back as she worried about what direction his thoughts were going in. “And Cassie clearly adores you.”

His face was blank. “Do you think she was a mistake?” he asked after a few more moments.

“What?”

“Like the world was ending and you took pity on me and oops, baby.”

“Fitz!” She was completely shocked.

He finally turned his face towards her, and for once she couldn’t read him.

“No,” she said, hoping her conviction was in her voice. “I haven’t told you…but the man that handed Cassie to me—”

“The one who you think was future me?”

“Yes. He was…on his hand…he was wearing a wedding ring.”

****

Fitz knew his mouth was hanging open. Married. “Do you think…to you?”

Jemma’s expression changed from surprise to her I-can’t-believe-you one, which he was very familiar with. “No, to someone else and we just happened to have a baby together anyway.”

His cheeks heated up. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

“Why not me?” She was starting to look downright angry. No no no no, this wasn’t what he meant to have happen.

He fished for the right words. “Nothing, no reason, no. Uh…I just…me?”

Jemma’s eyes narrowed.

“Buh,” Cassie said.

Jemma, still looking not very happy, leaned towards him. “Don’t,” she said in an almost growl, then in a move he absolutely did not see coming, she pressed her lips to his.

He didn’t respond for a moment, then wove his fingers into her hair and molded their mouths together.

Bloody hell, he was kissing Jemma.

Jemma was kissing him.

They broke apart a moment later, both panting. For a moment Fitz thought he heard footsteps above them but dismissed it as he looked into Jemma’s eyes. They were warm and full of things he probably didn’t deserve.

He swallowed and glanced at Cassie as she banged her toy car on the floor.

That Jemma would want…oh god.

“Is it because of her?” he asked from between clenched teeth.

“Fitz?”

“We’ll raise her together no matter what, but you’re not obligated to—”

“Of course I’m not obligated to anything. And yes, everything is clearer because I know we’ve managed to figure things out in the future. But I don’t want to wait. I don’t want to let this, whatever it is, pass us by.”

Jemma’s face was flushed. She was so beautiful and smart and—

Fitz cupped her cheek and kissed her again. Immediately she was pliant against him, her lips parting and her tongue swiping against him. With a groan he tilted his head, and deepened the kiss, hesitantly sliding his tongue over hers and into her mouth to map out as much as he could.

She tasted heavenly.

Fitz scooted closer to her and wrapped his arm around her. Jemma made a delighted noise, and he whimpered in response. Their lips and tongues moved together, and he had the idea he’d never be close enough to her. He wanted to be so close to her—

And damp stuffed animal smacked into their faces, and he nearly bit her as they broke apart and turned to look at their daughter. Mr. Ears ended up on the floor between them.

Cassie was pouting, and as they watched, she wiggled with a great deal of determination, kicked her legs, and rolled over onto her back. Fitz held his hand up towards Jemma without looking at her, and she gave him a high five. Cassie laughed and squirmed, looking very pleased with herself.

“Excellent work!” Jemma said, picked up Cassie and snuggling her before turning towards Fitz with a shy smile.

He thought his heart might explode.

“That’s my monkey,” he said, catching one of Cassie’s little feet and kissing it.

They stood, Fitz helping Jemma up, and turned towards the lab. There was still the report on the bloody useless coffee samples to write, and they needed to get back to working out the puzzle their future-selves had sent them.

He handed Cassie her stuffed animal. “No throwing,” he admonished as she stuck one of the elephant’s legs in her mouth.

“We could take a break. Maybe take turns showering and getting changed,” Jemma said. “Cassie seems to be more comfortable now, and one of us can probably be away long enough to get cleaned up.”

He nodded.

“You go first, and I’ll feed her.” Jemma pressed her lips together for a moment, then settled a hand on his chest. His eyes darted down to it before returning to her face.

“We’re just getting, started, aren’t we?” he asked, wanting to pull her back into a kiss.

“Yes,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. Fitz’s heart soared anyway.

He pecked her cheek and then Cassie’s before heading upstairs. He paused at the top, but only heard the lab doors opening, no ear-splitting wails. Breathing a sigh of relief, he headed towards his bunk but was stopped by Skye, who scurried to stand right in front of him.

“Dish,” she said.

He sighed and made a face.

“C’mon, I’m living vicariously here. Did anything happen?”

Fitz looked down at his shoes.

“Something totally happened!” She made a noise that would give a dog whistle a run for its money.

“There was an almost kiss,” he hedged. If Skye hadn’t just seen him snogging Jemma just now, there was no reason to kiss and tell.

“Yes!” she cried, clasping her hands together. Fitz couldn’t figure her out.

“Why does it matter so much to you? It’s kind of something for me and Simmons to figure out.”

Skye frowned. “But you have a daughter. You should be a family.”

It finally clicked. Of course Skye, who’d gone from foster home to foster home, would be worried about Cassie having a stable family.

He grinned at Skye. “There might have been some actual kissing just a moment ago.”

She squealed and wrapped him in a bear hug. “I knew it!”

Fitz grunted from the force and pushed her off. “I’m probably gross after the all-nighter we just pulled.”

“Sounds like Jemma doesn’t care!” Skye giggled and patted him on the back as she headed towards the kitchen. His stomach growled, reminding him Cassie wasn’t the only one that needed to eat. He ran his tongue over his teeth and hoped his breath hadn’t been too gross, or that Jemma had been as distracted as he’d been during their first kiss and not noticed he wasn’t minty-fresh.

He almost made it to his door, only to have May come out of nowhere and stop him dead in his tracks.

“Fitz,” she said.

He couldn’t think of anything he’d done wrong, but the way she was glaring at him, he found himself hoping the floor would swallow him. She didn’t look happy. Did she ever look happy? What had he done? He fisted the hem of his shirt-sleeves with both hands.

May was studying him like he was a bug. One she was about to pin to a card.

“Y-y-yes?” he stammered.

“I saw you and Jemma a minute ago.”

Ah, those had been footsteps. “So?” Fitz asked as his chin came up. That’d been private. Just them and their daughter. “What about it?”

May reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m proud of you. You and Jemma are going to be excellent parents.”

Fitz gaped as May brushed past him, walking down the hallway and around the corner.

He opened the door of his bunk and nearly fell inside. That’d been weird. The vote of confidence had been nice, though. Fitz needed all he could get. There wasn’t a manual on how to deal with adjusting to having your future-baby dropped into your life while you still were working out how to have a relationship with your best friend.

Cripes. He’d kissed Jemma.

Fitz pulled his phone out of his pocket and set it on his bed. There was a message from his mum, asking him to call.

His stomach sank.

Oh no.

What the hell were he and Jemma going to tell their parents?

****

Jemma made a bottle for Cassie but also mixed some of the formula into a small bowl of rice cereal. Sitting with Cassie on her lap—a high chair was first on her list of things they needed— Jemma dipped the plastic-coated spoon into the goop and held it out to her daughter, who eagerly opened her mouth.

Not so difficult. How had Fitz managed to end up with banana everywhere?

Cassie had a bib on and was making little happy noises with each spoonful.

Jemma tried to sort out the lump of feelings that were lodged in her chest. The love that’d blossomed for Cassie was of course brand new. The fierceness of the feeling was what was entirely unexpected.

She looked around the lab. It was everything she’d worked so hard to achieve. The culmination of every test she’d studied for and every night she’d spent pouring over a textbook instead of doing things like slumber parties and going shopping with friends. The few she’d had, anyway.

Until she’d met Fitz, who’d been just as driven in his own way. Being here, in SHIELD, for him it meant he’d succeeded despite everything that’d tried to hold him back.

This was the dream.

It was wonderful and exciting.

She looked down at the baby in her arms. Ward had been right that the Bus wasn’t any kind of place for a baby. Jemma had already seen it have a hole blown in its side. Had watched it grow smaller and smaller when she’d jumped to save…

“Oh, Cassie.” Jemma kissed her daughter’s head, but Cassie only opened her mouth and grunted, still hungry. Jemma felt entirely mundane all of a sudden. For all of history, women had made choices about balancing their family and the rest of their life. On the inside, she still felt the same, was still the same person who had fought her way to two PhDs by the age when most teens were just learning to drive, but now she had to make a choice.

Giving up Cassie was an option. SHIELD could find her a loving home, and Jemma and Fitz could continue as they always had.

Cassie gazed up at her with her daddy’s wide, blue eyes.

Oh, bollocks. Jemma let out a sigh. There was no going back. She and Fitz weren’t the same as two days ago. They’d figure out a path forward, and they’d do it together. That was the part she was entirely certain about, even if that future was vastly different than the one she’d imagined at eighteen.

But before they could start on that future, they had to help the team find whoever had the ability to make people’s mochas explode, and figure out how to save the entire planet.

Nothing difficult.

 Jemma rubbed at the tension in her neck.

Cassie had eaten most of her cereal, with only a bit ending up on her face and her bib. Jemma took off the bib and cleaned her up, then cradled her daughter in her arms. Cassie took the bottle, but only drank a little before falling asleep.

Jemma carefully set her in the crib and covered her up.

Walking to the bench where the blankets and outfit Cassie had been wearing were sitting, Jemma studied them, trying to find what message they could possibly contain. She ran a finger over the stitching on the onesie. It was not perfect, but fairly small and even. Future-her was handy with a needle. The best example of her ability as a seamstress was the blanket with the red and green border made of tiny stitches. She picked it up to admire the work. It was an odd design because there wasn’t a pattern.

Jemma let a gasp out. Of course. How had she not figured it out before?

The lab door opened, and Fitz walked in, he looked clean, his shirt and slacks were neat, and he’d mostly tamed his wayward curls. He’d even shaved.

Part of her wanted to run to him and smoosh her face against his throat. He probably smelled wonderful. For the briefest of instances, she imagined him pressing her up against the wall with his mouth on hers.

Butterflies took flight in her stomach, their wings beating furiously.

Her face must have betrayed some of what she was feeling because Fitz became bashful. “Uh, hi,” he said, his eyes darting over to where his daughter was sleeping before he headed in that direction.

“Hi,” she breathed and held up the blanket. “I figured it out.”

Fitz spun around, looking at her like she was the sexiest woman alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone for the wonderful comments that have helped keep this story flowing! I'm on tumblr as @sunalsolove if you want to drop me a line or question that way!


	5. A Touch of Stardust

Fitz couldn’t sleep. His mind was working too fast. The stitching on the blanket was indeed a code, but it wasn’t a simple one. He’d spent part of his day working on that and another part sitting hunched over a computer terminal with Skye scouring the internet for anything about their latest bad guy.

Jemma had conducted some further testing on the coffee samples, with the same conclusion that there was nothing special about it at all, and she’d worked on deciphering the code as well. It wasn’t anything in the SHIELD database, but he had a computer program running permutations on it, so hopefully when morning came, they’d have answers.

Right now, he was back in Jemma’s bunk, lying in her bed while Cassie slept in her crib. Cassie had been cranky and exhausted right before she’d dropped off, and Fitz entirely sympathized.

If only his mind would shut down and let him rest. He was on his back with a sleeping Jemma snuggled against his side. Her head was on his shoulder, and he was running his hand over her hair, the simple movement helping to calm him.

He was in love with her. Had probably always been in love with her, but they’d been so focused on their academic and career goals that it hadn’t been important. He’d known she’d always be there right beside him. Now he couldn’t imagine one more day having gone by without feeling like this about her.

Fitz really hoped it hadn’t taken the end of the world for his future self to figure it out.

Cassie fussed slightly in her sleep.

He loved his daughter in a blinding way he couldn’t describe. She was his heart made manifest, and it was really scary that she was going to grow up and do things like drive, go to college, and date.

And she’d have a world to grow up in. Fitz would make sure of that.

Jemma stirred and raised her head. “Can’t sleep?” she mumbled.

“Processing,” he told her, knowing she’d understand.

“I’m still processing May reading Cassie a book,” Jemma said, yawning and letting her head sag against him.

Fitz snorted. It had been rather unbelievable. May had shown up with a children’s board book, one of those with different things on each page for the kid to touch, and commandeered Cassie. Sitting in the corner of the lab, May had read the book to Cassie, helping her touch what she was supposed to and even doing different voices. When they were done, Cassie had grumped up at May, and to Fitz’s complete astonishment, May had repeated the entire process. After she’d finished the book for the second time, she’d handed Cassie to Fitz with a curt, “She’s hungry”, and had walked off.

Cassie had nearly everyone wrapped around her tiny finger.

Except for Ward, who complained about how loud she was, how much room she took up, and how she was diverting everyone from the mission.

The worst part was that most of his complaints did have a point. Cassie didn’t fit in on the Bus, and truthfully, Fitz was incredibly glad the plane was safely parked in a hanger at the moment.

The idea of flying around in a giant moving target with his baby didn’t make Fitz any more relaxed.

Jemma was tracing little circles with her finger on his chest.

“I don’t think we can stay on the Bus,” he said to her.

“Me either. I’m sad about that. We worked really hard to be here.”

He kissed her forehead. “I know. This is the dream.”

“Was the dream,” Jemma corrected. “I’m sad that mine are changing, but I’m beginning to have new ones that are about taking someone to ballet lessons and helping with astronomy club.”

“Oh, Jemma.” He cupped her cheek. Working on Coulson’s team had meant so much to her. “If you want…you can stay here. I’ll make us a home, and you can come and visit as often as you like.”

Her head snapped up. “You’d do that?”

“In a heartbeat.” It made him ache, but he would.

She gazed at him, face unreadable in the dark. “That’s wonderful of you, Fitz, but no. I’d have to start working with someone else in the lab, and they wouldn’t be you, and it would just be terrible.”

Fitz snorted.

“And it’d be terrible not to be there to see Cassie grow up. And terrible not to spend my days and nights…with you.”

He wrapped his arm tight around her, overcome.

“Can I confess something?” she said.

“Of course,” he choked out.

“I don’t like to tell people this, because you know how hard it is to be the young very smart person and your script always has to be about being the best and making a difference in the world.”

He nodded. “You can tell me anything.”

“Yes, but…when I was a little girl, I used to play with dolls.”

“Uh…” Fitz felt like he was supposed to get more out of that than he was. “I played with legos.”

She poked his chest. “I mean, I always thought I’d be a mum. Even while I raced ahead of everyone my age, I always saw myself as one day becoming a parent. I had to put that away when I started competing for marks. No one wanted to hear about how I wanted to solve the mysteries of the universe as well as sing lullabies. At some point, it started to feel like wanting that was letting down every girl that had dreamed of being a physicist or astronaut and then ended up not being able to because of her gender.”

“No one can take away from you what you’ve achieved,” he said. “But if you want to research and be a mum, I don’t think those things are incompatible. I want to be at every single one of Cassie’s school plays and football matches, but I don’t plan to stop creating and building things. There’s a balance we’ll have to find, and we’ll have to work at it, but we don’t stop being who we are because we include our daughter in our lives.”

“Thank you,” she said.

 Fitz felt a little funny. It’d never occurred to him that Simmons because she was female would do anything else besides be a brilliant research scientist. Sometimes he hated people and their ridiculous expectations. If anyone ever told Cassie she couldn’t do exactly as she pleased because she was a girl, he’d punch them…well, more likely he’d design and build a hulking big robot that would punch the berks in the face.

“What are you thinking about?” Jemma asked.

“Er…giant robots.”

He could feel her frown. “How about you? What do you want? Do you want to stay on the Bus?”

Fitz toyed with the ends of her hair. “No, Jemma, I want to be wherever you and Cassie are. Will I miss SHIELD’s vast resources? Of course, but I can design stuff anywhere, doesn’t have to be here.” He paused for a moment, then grinned. “We’re going to have the best Christmas light display on the block!”

Jemma giggled. “Oh, Fitz.” She pressed her hand to his chest and pushed herself up until her mouth met his. The kiss was sleepy and soft. Meant to comfort, not to arouse. He loved it. He loved her.

She had to move back when she yawned again, then returned to being curled up against his side.

He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep while doing calculations on watts and amps and just how many strings of lights you could truly put together without creating a fire risk. Maybe he could build a kind of central hub…

****

Jemma rubbed at her eyes. Cassie had woken her and Fitz a few minutes ago, demanding breakfast. Jemma stumbled down to the lab, frowned at the computer that still didn’t have any usable results, and put a bottle on to heat.

Fitz appeared a few minutes later, two cups of tea in hand.

“Bless you,” she said, setting hers aside to cool while Cassie ate.

It was too early for conversation, and Fitz drank his tea while grumbling at the computer and making adjustments to the program. So far it was just spitting out meaningless trash.

“There has to be a cypher,” Fitz said, drumming his fingers on the counter beside the terminal.

“Something only we would know.” Jemma propped Cassie against her shoulder and was finally able to start drinking her tea. She shared a glance with Fitz. They’d known each other for so long that there were a lot of inside jokes between them. What would future them have thought important?

They spent twenty minutes trying everything they could think of, from the terrible nicknames they’d given their Academy profs to the titles of shared favorite _Doctor Who_ episodes. The program still returned results that were gibberish.

Jemma was mentally cursing out future her.

What the hell was she supposed to—

There was a loud squeal as alarms went off and emergency lights turned on.

Cassie wailed in fright and Jemma pressed the side of Cassie’s head against her chest, covering her other ear with a hand.

The rest of the team came down the stairs, strapping on night-night guns and other field gear.

Coulson stuck his head in. “Sorry about the alarm, it was automatically triggered. Our bad guy has stuck again. It’s a smaller attack but at the airport.”

“Wait,” Jemma said. “This airport?”

Fitz hit several keys on a computer, and the alarms turned off.

“This airport,” Coulson confirmed.

Jemma was terrified as she looked down at Cassie, who was still crying. Fitz was shaking as he pointed a finger a Coulson. “Stop him. Don’t let him get near my daughter. My family.”

Coulson nodded once and left, following the others down the cargo ramp. Fitz watched the SUV drive out of the hanger, leaving the hold open just in case they needed to return to the plane quickly.

In the lab, he went to stand beside Jemma, looking into Cassie’s tear-streaked face. She held out her arms to him, and he took her, sitting cross-legged on the floor with her on his knee.

“Hey, Monkey,” Fitz said. “It’s okay.”

She looked at the door of the lab. “Buh?”

“Everyone had to go and make sure a bad person doesn’t hurt anyone else. They’ll come back soon. And Mummy and Daddy are still here with Cassie.” He tickled her tummy, and she laughed. He swooped in to kiss her and Cassie grabbed hold of his hair, yanking. Fitz looked at Jemma. “Help,” he mouthed.

She went to kneel beside them and gently freed Fitz. “Cassie, that is not what we do.” Cassie looked close to tears, but Fitz bounced his knee, and soon she was smiling again.

“I suppose we should—” He glanced up at the computer, then glumly back at Jemma.

She shook her head and stood. Fitz did as well. “I don’t think I can concentrate right now,” Jemma said. “Let’s just entertain Cassie for a while.”

Fitz raised an eyebrow.

Going over to one of the terminals, Jemma pulled up a music website and started _Yellow Submarine_ playing. Cassie’s eyes went wide. Jemma took Cassie into her arms and turned her facing out. Gently, Jemma bounced her along with the beat. Fitz appeared lost for a moment, then, with great reluctance, began to move jerkily to the music.

Cassie was enthralled, but Jemma didn’t last very long until she started giggling, then flat out laughing.

Fitz gave her a withering look.

“Cassie,” Jemma said. “Your daddy’s dancing. He must love you very much because in all the time I’ve known him I’ve never seen him dance. He hates it. Not once at a club, or any of our friend’s weddings.”

Jemma bit her lip but was laughing again in seconds.

Fitz’s ears turned pink, but he didn’t stop until the end of the song.

“My turn,” he said, going to the computer and rapidly typing something in. A moment later the opening strains of _Scotland the Brave_ came through the speakers.

“Bagpipes?” Jemma asked.

“She’s half-Scots,” Fitz said, putting his hands on his hips. “She should learn her heritage.”

Cassie was craning her neck, looking left and right.

“I think she’s searching for the dying cat,” Jemma said.

Fitz scowled.

****

Fitz sat, watching both the computer screen with a live feed from the airport and Jemma as she rocked a sleeping Cassie, the music playing over the speakers now a quiet concerto.

Before a few days ago he would have said his life was full. He’d had an exciting job that demanded the best out of him, nearly unlimited resources to build things with, and a best friend who understood him better than he did himself.

Now he had a daughter and a…bloody hell. A girlfriend? What that what Jemma was now? She felt like more.

He ran his thumb over his finger where a wedding ring would sit.

Maybe someday. Maybe soon. But they should probably go on at least one date first. Would going to the Seattle Aquarium with Cassie count? He pulled up the Aquarium’s web page, scanning it for hours and accessibility. They needed to buy a pram. And then he’d need to modify it because the ruddy thing would probably be a health hazard.

“What are you looking at?” Jemma asked from behind him.

“Just checking when the place is open. Maybe we can go with Cassie?”

“That'd be lovely. Oh, look, there’s puffins.” She leaned down, peering at the screen over his shoulder.

“I’ve always liked a good puffin.” God, that didn’t even make sense, but she was so warm and close, her breath ghosting over his ear.

She nuzzled against him. “Mmm,” she muttered, then nipped at his earlobe before sucking it between her lips.

All of his higher brain functions completely shut down. He made a noise that didn’t entirely sound human, but then there was a squirming against his back and Jemma was straightening up and adjusting Cassie to put her head on Jemma’s shoulder.

Warmth blossomed in his chest again.  

Until he caught sight of a security camera feed that was on a display past her shoulder.

“Jemma!” he squeaked, tapping keys to bring the video to a bigger screen and turn the sound on. Jemma put a hand over Cassie’s head as she stared at the screen.

There were two men, one dressed in black tactical gear and the other with shaggy hair and jeans that had just entered the hanger and were standing by the front of the Bus.

“Don’t do this, Steve,” the jean-guy said.

The other man, Steve, gestured at the Bus. “This plane belongs to SHIELD. They’re out there hunting you right now, believing you to be responsible for the attacks yesterday and this morning. What do you care what happens to it?”

“Blowing it up isn’t going to solve anything!” Jean-guy held out his hands imploringly.

Fear wrapped around Fitz’s chest in tight bands. It was hard to breathe, and his heart seemed to be trying to escape.

Jemma’s mouth was hanging open.  “No,” she whispered, glancing at the open cargo-bay door.

“It’ll show that I mean business,” Steve said, his voice harsh even over the security camera feed.

“This thing’s packed with jet fuel,” the jean-guy said. “You’ll be killed too.”

“Nah, I’m prepared.” Steve pushed a button, and a forcefield shimmered to life around him. He waited for a second and powered it down. “Not a lot of battery, but more than enough to survive the blast.” He jabbed a finger at jean-guy. “We worked long and hard to develop this technology that can super-excite a fluid, based off what you can just do, you freak. But when our employers saw it, they said it was useless, that we’d misused company resources, and then fired us—” Steve shrugged. “Now I’m going to get what I’m due. You’re all that’s in my way.”

“Fitz,” Jemma whispered.

He looked down at his shoes. “We can call the others…” He shook his head. There wasn’t time. Cassie woke and whimpered, and Jemma immediately hushed her. “If they see us…”

“Boom,” Jemma said.

But one person should be able to sneak out.

Fitz’s muscles unfroze. In the future, he’d found a way to send Cassie back to save her. If he could do that for her, he could protect her now.

He went to a cabinet, and his hands only shook a little as he removed a night-night pistol and checked to make sure it was loaded. Jemma was watching him, fear on her face.

“I’m going. If I’m quiet, that guy won’t see me, and I can get a shot in.”

Jemma looked for a moment like she was going to argue, but then her face crumpled, and she crossed the room and pressed a quick kiss to his lips.

He planted one on Cassie’s forehead as well.

On the screen, jean-guy had disappeared, and Steve was pointing something at the plane.

Fitz prayed he wouldn’t be too late.

He trotted past Lola and kicked off his shoes to make less noise as he ducked down and edged around the side of the plane. He paused, then hustled over to the nearest landing gear. The huge tire smelled disgusting, and bits of gravel on the concrete were digging into his feet, both of which he did his best to ignore.

Fitz peeked around the edge of the landing gear.

The jean-guy was gripping the Bus’s front landing gear, his face red and streaked with sweat. The other man was much closer to Fitz, who scrambled slightly backwards to stay out of view.

He took a deep breath and snuck another look.

Steve had his back towards Fitz. He was standing under the wing and pointing what looked like a taser-pistol straight up. It must be what he used to excite molecular motion in fluids. Terribly inelegant design. Fitz shook his head. Not the point at the moment.

Jean-guy’s eyes widened briefly, and Fitz guessed the guy must have caught sight of him.

“Hey, all you’ll ever be is some tech-sector reject,” jean-guy hollered. He had to be trying to keep the fuel at a safe temperature. Fitz felt terrible that the guy his team had been after was now doing his best to save him.

Steve looked hard in jean-guy’s direction. “How long do you think you can keep that up? Looks like you’re getting tired.”

Fitz tried not to think about how the sixty-eight thousand liters of jet fuel in the Bus’s tanks would be heating up. Its molecules moving faster and faster. Instead, he imagined Cassie smiling. The taste of Jemma’s lips. He stood and lifted his arm, pointing the night-night pistol at Steve.

He took a step closer, then another.

The jean-guy was hurling vitriol that Fitz didn’t have time to listen to, but it was keeping Steve’s attention.

Fitz’s hand was shaking.

He held his breath. The gun’s muzzle steadied. He only got a single shot. Then Steve would know Fitz was there and there’d be no second chance. He was aiming at the back of Steve’s head and praying he didn’t turn around.

Fitz exhaled as he slowly squeezed the trigger.

It seemed to take forever until the shot fired. The sound was a muffled whump of compressed gas expanding.

Steve fell to the pavement, and for a moment it looked like ice spread upwards from where jean-guy was hanging onto the plane, but Fitz didn’t wait to see what happened. He turned and sprinted for the cargo bay, stopping just long enough to stuff his feet back into his shoes.

Jemma and Cassie were waiting for him right outside the lab. Behind him one of the hanger’s doors was opening, the sound loud, but all he could focus on was his family. He rushed into Jemma’s arms, squishing Cassie between them.

“See, Cassie? Jemma said. “It’s okay. It’s okay. Daddy’s right here.”

Cassie wiggled and reached up, patting Fitz’s cheek. “Da,” she said.

Both Jemma and Fitz looked down, startled.

Cassie pouted and squirmed, hitting her palm harder against Fitz’s jaw. “Da…da.”

“Oh, that’s right!” Jemma exclaimed. “Yes, Cassie, that’s Daddy.” She was smiling, and then it dissolved into tears. She pushed against Fitz’s chest. “I was so scared.”

He covered her hand with his. “Me too.”

Someone cleared their throat from the direction of the cargo-bay ramp. Both Jemma and Fitz turned towards the noise. “Uh, sorry to interrupt.” It was jean-guy. He had his hands shoved in his pockets and was looking wide-eyed at Cassie. “My name’s Josh, um, what do want to do with the dude you shot? I grabbed his gun-thing.”

Fitz rushed across the hold and snatched the device out of Josh’s hand, barely looking at it before throwing it to the floor and stomping on it.

“Uh, I guess that’s one way to deal with it,” Josh said.

“Come, sit down,” Jemma said, smiling and wiping off her face.

“We’ll take care of the other guy,” Coulson said, walking up the ramp. The SUV was parked at the bottom.

Fitz raised an eyebrow.

“Jemma called and kept us updated. Ward’s going to hand this Steve over to the authorities.”

Skye and May helped Ward drag the unconscious man to the SUV and secure him in the back as Fitz updated Coulson.

When Fitz finished, Coulson put a hand on his shoulder. “You did well.”

“Thank you, sir.” Fitz didn’t feel as happy as he thought he should be about the whole thing. He might not feel better about any of it until he, Jemma, and Cassie were somewhere that wasn’t inside a giant bomb.

May and Skye headed upstairs to get clean and check on the Bus, but Coulson went into the lab to talk to Josh. Fitz trailed behind him, finding Jemma taking Cassie’s bottle out of Josh’s hand.

“Ninety-eight degrees,” he said.

“Thank you,” Jemma replied with a smile. “It’s really impressive you have that kind of control.”

Josh smiled shyly. “I had to practice with a thermometer, but I’m pretty good now.”

Cassie started to open her mouth for her bottle, but then caught sight of Fitz.

“Dadadadada!” she babbled, waving her arms.

Coulson chuckled. “I see someone learned a new word.”

“Technically at her age—" Fitz started.

“Yes,” Jemma cut him off, handing Cassie to him, followed by her bottle. “She’s very clever. It’s a bit early, but she clearly means Fitz. I’m not at all surprised she’s ahead of the curve.”

Jemma pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth and he turned his head slightly, giving her a real kiss that only lasted a moment but made her blush and Coulson grin. Then there was no more waiting to feed Cassie as she gave a small cry.

Fitz watched his daughter as she took her bottle, her hands loosely closing around it. “Bottoms up,” he whispered. “To new beginnings.”

Jemma smiled. “Yes, beginnings…oh, Fitz, Fitz!”

He frowned at her a moment, then understood. “Our beginning!”

“Want to tell me what leap you just made?” Coulson asked. “Because I am not following.”

Josh’s mouth was twisted to the side. “And why do you have a baby on a SHIELD airplane?”

“Our beginning,” Jemma said to Coulson, tapping the keys on the computer with the program running to decode the blanket’s pattern.

“Dielectric polarization.” Fitz rocked Cassie as she drank her formula. Who could have imagined that a conversation about electrical fields, one which he’d stuttered through because he was finally talking to the most amazing woman ever, would lead to the creation of such a beautiful person?

“Still not getting it,” Coulson said.

“It’s the first thing Fitz, and I ever discussed. I bet it’s the key.” She hit enter, and the program went to work. Fitz carried Cassie over to stand beside Jemma as they waited for the results.

His face fell as the message printed out in stark black and white on the screen.

“Everything okay?” Josh asked.

Jemma waved Coulson to come around and read for himself.

Fitz couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

SHIELD INFILTRATED BY HYDRA

G WARD IS HYDRA J GARRETT IS HYDRA TRUST A TRIP V HAND FURY

ALIEN CITY UNDER PUERTO RICO WRITING MAP

SKYE INHUMAN DO NOT TRUST HER MOTHER

ILIAD MONOLITH GATE TO OTHER PLANET WITH EVIL DO NOT LET THROUGH

RADCLIFF NO AIDA NO FRAMEWORK

DESTROY DARKHOLD ASAP

TIME LOOP EARTH CRACKED OPEN GEN HALE HYDRA

FIND ENOCH AND ROBIN

DESTROY GRAVITONIUM

LOVE TO CASSIE


	6. Monkey and Me

Jemma’s stomach was churning. Her fist was pressed to her lips as she read the words on the screen over and over again.

“I don’t know what all of this means,” Coulson said.

“Probably because some of it is about things that haven’t happened yet,” Jemma said quietly. “But we know the first part.”

Fitz’s face was drawn and pale. “Our…our Ward?”

“Fitz,” she said, and he looked up at her. “We don’t have time for doubt. Not when it’s Cassie’s life.”

He nodded sharply. “We’re leaving, before whatever this is blows up.”

Coulson gripped his upper arm, and Cassie was looking close to tears, most likely having picked up that everyone was upset, even if she didn’t understand why. Jemma barely understood why.

“You two start packing the SUV,” Coulson said.  “You can stay in a hotel for now. Get Skye and Josh here to help carry. I’m going to contact Fury.”

“Better not use any regular SHIELD channels.” Fitz’s voice was hoarse.

Coulson nodded, squeezing Fitz’s arm one last time before letting go. “Ward should be back soon with the SUV. Don’t let on you suspect him of anything. If he contacts his higher-ups, then we might lose our chance to get ahead of Hydra.”

“Yes,” Jemma said at the same time as Fitz.

“Come with me,” Coulson said to Josh. “We need to talk. I might have an offer for you since it seems like I’m going to be down a few team members, and then I’ll pass you over to Skye for moving duty.” Josh, looking starry-eyed, rose and hurried to keep up with Coulson as he rushed up the stairs.

Jemma took Cassie from Fitz. He looked wrung out from earlier, tired and exasperated. His phone rang, and he pulled it out.

“Oh, terrific, it’s my bleeding mum.”

Jemma’s eyes went wide as he answered the call.

“Hi, Mum, sorry I didn’t ring.”

He put a hand over his eyes and sighed.

“Sorry, I’m sorry,” he repeated. “I know you worry…Jemma’s parents phoned you?”

Jemma made a face, then turned and went to find Cassie’s red car. She retrieved it from the counter as Fitz continued to try and apologize. He was getting increasingly agitated.

“Look, it’s been a rough week. We’ll talk to you and Mr. and Mrs. Simmons as soon as we can.”

Cassie waved the car and burbled.

“Yes, that’s a baby. Uh…” He turned wide, worried eyes towards Jemma. “Jemma and I had a baby.” Fitz held the phone away from his head as his mum screamed at him. Well, that certainly wasn't how Jemma had been planning to break the news, but Fitz had never been good at keeping things from his mum. When Mrs. Fitz sounded a little calmer, Fitz put the phone back against his ear. “It’s really complicated. Her name’s Cassie.” His mum shrieked again. “We’ll call you and send pictures as soon as we’re able. And try to explain…yes, yes, you’re right,” he grumbled. “You did say we’d always get together.”

He hung up, right as Ward returned with the SUV.

Jemma hugged Cassie tight against her and Fitz grabbed a night-night pistol, but Ward didn’t even look at them as he jogged up the stairs.

Fitz and Jemma spent the next hour emptying out their drawers and packing their meager possessions into duffels, while Skye and Josh helped with packing Cassie’s things into the SUV.

Skye held Cassie for a long time as Jemma went through the lab, looking for anything that belonged to her and not SHIELD. Cassie was fascinated with Skye and kept bonking her head onto Skye’s face as she tried to grab her hair while Skye rattled on to her, promising to always be the cool aunt.

Coulson, face stony, came back down to the cargo hold as Fitz packed the last few things into the car.

May was there, shooting glances at Coulson and leaning on the hood of the SUV.

Fitz, his hand shoved in his pockets, went over to Coulson, who hugged him and then clapped him on the shoulder.

Jemma put Cassie into her car seat. The straps were different than she remembered, and she wondered when Fitz had managed to change them out. The harness fasted securely, and Jemma was very impressed, as always, with his ingenuity.

“Your daddy is amazing,” she told Cassie, who was clutching Mr. Ears.

There was a commotion on the stairs, and she glanced over to find Ward, his face grim, hurrying down them.

Jemma immediately understood what was happening as Ward rushed towards the SUV.

Ward knew. Probably had a hack into the computers. He’d seen the message from the future. Her stomach flip-flopped. She didn’t want to believe he was Hydra. Hadn’t, really, until this moment when she saw the fury in his eyes.

May stepped into Ward’s path. They traded a few quick blows, but Ward wasn’t trying to fight her. He was making a run for it.

Fear descended on Jemma, and things seemed to be going in slow motion. Fitz was yelling as Coulson held him back. Ward opened the door of the SUV and clipped May with it, sending her stumbling back. Not considering the consequences, Jemma jumped into the seat beside Cassie, slamming her door closed as Ward did the same. He gunned the SUV’s engine, throwing it into reverse and backing out of the Bus.

Things sped up again as Ward switched gears and headed for the partially open hanger door. They were going much too fast. Cassie was crying. Jemma looked around the inside of the car. She needed a weapon. There were mostly baby supplies.

Ward glanced at her, but then clearly dismissed her. He did up his seatbelt and set his hand on the butt of the pistol he had in his hip.

Her mind whirled as her eyes fastened on the can of formula on the floorboard at her feet and then the seatbelt across Ward’s chest.

Cassie was howling.

“Shut her up, or I shoot her,” Ward snapped.

Jemma’s fear left her. He’d threatened Cassie. He’d shoot her daughter. Jemma picked up the can of formula, pulled the lid off, and in one motion flung the powder out of the can into Ward’s face. She had her eyes closed so she wouldn’t be blinded and held her breath.

Ward got a face full.

As he gasped and coughed, she grabbed the seatbelt where it crossed his chest and yanked it up around his neck, digging her feet into the seat as she pulled it tight. She had to cut off blood flow, not just breathing.

Ward was fighting her, but she must have had the angle right to be pinching off both carotid arteries because he quickly went limp and the car slowed. She jerked forward and pulled the emergency brake before immediately returning to her jackknifed position. She couldn’t let go, three seconds and he’d wake as the blood returned to his brain.

There was the screech of tires, and the driver’s door of the SUV opened. There was a muffled thump, and then May was there, prying Jemma’s hands off the seatbelt.

Fitz was on the other side of the SUV, taking Cassie from her seat and soothing her.

“Let go,” May said gently to Jemma. “Phil put a night-night round into him. It’s safe.”

Jemma was shaking. “I think there’s another can of formula,” she said. “But I can’t remember. I had to use it—” Jemma broke off as her heart pounded wildly in her chest.

May helped her out of the car. “You saved your daughter, and probably SHIELD,” May said, patting her back. “If Ward had been able to get away, to warn anyone, this would be a much worse day.”

Jemma nodded as a warm hand clutched her elbow. She turned to find Fitz right there, Cassie in his arms. She hugged him fiercely.  

Lola was parked close by. Jemma looked at it, and then Fitz. “How did all three of you fit in there?”

He glanced at May. “You don’t want to know.”

May shrugged a shoulder.

“Can we go now?” Jemma asked Fitz. Her adrenaline was fading, and she wanted to be somewhere safe for Cassie.

“Yeah, let’s take sleeping butt-face back to the Bus and say goodbye.”

Jemma helped, with a distinct lack of gentleness, to push Ward into the passenger seat. She hoped he had some terrible bruises when he woke up. She strapped Cassie back into her chair and sat beside her as Fitz drove them back. It took most of them to drag Ward up to the interrogation room and dump him on the floor. Coulson locked him in with a flourish.

In the cargo bay, Jemma hugged Skye, Coulson, and even May. Fitz was holding Cassie, who got enough goodbye kisses from everyone that she started to get annoyed.

Coulson promised to update Fitz and her soon.  Coulson’s phone rang just as Fitz and Jemma were getting into the SUV. His face went blank when he answered it. Not good news, then.

It seemed odd she wouldn’t know about what would happen with SHIELD over the next day or two. Or maybe ever.

As they drove towards the exit to the airport, Fitz intertwined his fingers with hers and kissed her knuckles.

“It’s sad,” he said as she turned to look out the rear window. “But we’ll see them again. This is just a new kind of adventure.”

****

The hotel, well, motel, was clean if not very spacious. Fitz was not overly impressed. He’d picked a room on the side that didn’t face the street. Having a big, black SUV with a SHIELD symbol on the side was a bit of a giveaway, and he wanted to hide at the moment.

He was pacing in the narrow space between the bed and the dresser with the TV on it.

Jemma was sitting on the bed, holding Cassie as she drank her bottle. “Sit down,” Jemma said. “You’re making me bloody nervous.”

His steps faltered, and he crawled onto the bed, sitting up against the headboard beside Jemma and his daughter.

“I am nervous,” he said. “Don’t know what’s going on with anything.”

She nodded, her eyes on Cassie. “I have a question.” Jemma’s voice was soft.

“Yeah?” His knee was hitching up and down. People he knew, cared about, could be getting hurt or worse. But he had nowhere to go, nothing to do…only he was here with Jemma and Cassie. It wasn’t like he could just leave them. What if someone came after them?

Jemma wiggled over until her shoulder and thigh pressed against his. “What about future us?” she asked.

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve been trying to puzzle out how this all works. The future is supposed to be fixed because time is only an illusion.”

Ah. “Yes, I’ve been trying to unknot it all as well. My best guess is that we’re experiencing something like a Mobius strip, only with time.”

“So we think we’re endlessly going forward—”

“But are actually looping back around, yes.”

He tucked a strand of Jemma’s hair behind her ear as her brilliant mind whirred around the problem. “Did these perceived future versions of ourselves simply disappear, do you think? Cassie becoming something of an anomaly because we bridged from one part of this time Mobius-strip to the other and then broke it apart?”

“More or less. And I’m hoping so, though I can’t determine exactly what would happen. I’m certain the me that handed Cassie to you must have appeared and disappeared quickly. Skye never could find him on any of the security camera feeds. I’m hoping he went back, held you, and then that entire eddy of time was absorbed into the main flow.”

She tilted her head to the side.

“I can’t imagine living without Cassie,” he said. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

Jemma’s face fell, and her hand trembled as she brushed her fingers against Cassie’s cheek. “I can’t either. And if Hydra had sprung its trap with us all unaware…” She didn’t need to finish that sentence. Fitz was worried things were too far gone as they were with Hydra.

Cassie had finished her bottle, and Fitz took her from Jemma’s arms, propping his daughter on his shoulder and patting her back.  She burped loudly, making all three of them laugh, then settled against him for a nap. Jemma seemed content to doze as well, nuzzling against his shoulder and closing her eyes. Fitz couldn’t sleep, he was too wired, but there was no way for him to get any information. Eventually, he flipped on the news, comforted by the fact that it was all the usual mundane stuff with no mention of SHIELD. The most exciting thing were the reports from Seattle about the coffee-terrorist being captured by authorities.

Eventually, Jemma and Cassie awoke, and the three of them went out to make a run to Target for necessities like toothbrushes, and a few frivolities like swimwear for the hotel’s pool. They stopped and picked up Chinese food and spent the rest of the night sleeping fitfully, caring for Cassie, and waiting for news that never came.

The next day was even worse.

“Shall we try the pool?” Jemma asked in the early afternoon. Cassie was on her tummy on the bed, chewing on Mr. Ear’s leg and kicking her legs.

He picked up his phone, glancing at the screen which still showed no notifications. “Let’s,” he said with a shrug. They needed the distraction. Jemma disappeared into the bathroom while he got himself into his blue swim trunks and Cassie into a purple swimsuit. He was lathering her up with enough sunscreen for three kids when Jemma came out with her hair tied back and wearing a purple one-piece on that matched Cassie’s. She had a beach towel around her hips and two more in her hands.

Fitz’s heart stuttered. She was lovely.

The motel’s outside pool was small but clean with water that sparkled in the sunlight.

“Watch, Cassie!” he called, kicking off his flip-flops and cannonballing into the water. It was cold, and he came up sputtering, but both Jemma and Cassie were smiling, so it was well worth it.

Jemma sat at the edge and dipped Cassie’s toes into the water. Under the floppy hat Cassie was wearing, her eyes went wide, and she kicked her feet hard, splashing Fitz.

“Hey, Monkey, watch the eyes!” He took her from Jemma and gently lowered her into the water, stopping when she was half-submerged and supporting her while she played.

Jemma slipped into the pool as well, ducking under the water and coming up with her hair plastered to her head and neck. She swam over and gently splashed Cassie, who responded by frantically slapping her hands into the water and making a great deal of noise.

Jemma hid her face against his neck to protect herself from the spray. Her breath warm and tickling. He swiveled around slowly, and she looked up at him. Her pupils were wide and fixed on his mouth. Fitz bowed his head slightly and molded his lips to hers. Jemma whimpered and pressed closer to him. She tasted of sunblock, and he was so in love with her. His tongue slid against hers, spiraling as their lips moved languidly together.

Cassie squealed and rocked in his arms. “Buh! Buh!”

“I see you two didn’t waste much time!” Skye’s voice said from the edge of the pool.

Just on principle, he kissed Jemma for a few seconds more before letting her go and turning to look. Skye was standing there, her laptop in her arms, with Coulson and May beside her. Josh was hanging back, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.

“Hello!” Jemma said. “Did things go well? We just brought Cassie out to have a bit of fun.”

“I see,” May said.

Skye put her laptop down and rolled up the cuffs of her jeans before sitting with her feet in the pool. She opened her computer on her lap.

May and Coulson pulled deck chairs up to the edge of the pool, and Fitz swam towards him. Coulson claimed Cassie, wrapping her in a towel, though she still dripped pool water on his nice suit. Coulson didn’t seem to care as he cooed at Cassie.

“News?” Fitz asked. Jemma was beside him, her hand on his shoulder.

“It hasn’t been easy,” Coulson said, producing a set of toy plastic keys out of his pocket and shaking them for Cassie. “Hydra had infiltrated the entirety of SHIELD. We’ve got Ward locked up on the Bus, and he’s been…let’s go with helpful, once he realized the stakes. And watched a video of Garrett—the one from your message—try to sacrifice Ward to save his ass.”

A chill passed through Fitz, and he shivered. Jemma rubbed his back. So much betrayal. He’d thought Ward had been his friend, even if he hadn’t warmed up to Cassie. That should have been a warning sign.

“Is SHIELD still going to be SHIELD after this?” Jemma asked.

Coulson nodded. “Thanks to you two, there’s still an Academy, a Sandbox…you saved thousands of lives.”

“You mean future we did,” Fitz said.

“Still you guys, and it was you and Jemma that figured out the message that you’d sent to yourselves,” May said with a shrug.

“Thank you for coming to tell us,” Jemma said. “We’ve been ever so worried.”

Coulson chuckled. “We needed to get our car.”

“Oh, right.” Fitz ran a hand through his wet hair. Now, what were he and Jemma going to do for transportation?

“Don’t worry!” Skye said from where she was typing away on her computer. Josh was sitting beside her now, his feet in the pool as well.

“Do you want me to warm the water?” Josh asked.

“Sure,” Fitz said, and the water immediately became bath-water warm. Nice. “But what do you mean don’t worry?”

“We bought you a new car,” Skye said. “It’s this swank minivan.”

“The doors are remote control and everything,” Josh added.

A what? Fitz shared a grimace with Jemma.

“And I’m getting you guys set up right now with new everything-birth certificates, driver's liceneses, all that jazz. Did you decide on a birthday for Cassie?”

Jemma shook her head and glanced at Fitz. He could read her look and knew it was too much for her to choose. “How about you pick?” he said to Skye. She grinned and went back to work. “Oh, and it’s Cassiopeia.”

“Got it, and that’s adorable. I’ll have socia numbers for you and her, oh, and just so you know, I have it so the government thinks you’re married. Mr. and Mrs. Fitzsimmons. It makes all this life rearranging easier.”

Jemma made an odd noise, and there was a buzzing in his ears.

“I don’t have rings,” he said inanely.

Skye waved a hand. “It’s just legal-married.”

“Right,” he said. He was married to Jemma? Just like that? He gripped the rough edge of the pool and looked at her.

Jemma, her wet hair plastered down, put a hand on his cheek. “When it’s time, we’ll do it right.” The sun glinted off the drops of water on her skin, making her shimmer.

He relaxed a fraction. “I hope so.”

“I know so.”

Fitz pressed a brief kiss to the corner of her lips. He felt buoyed up by more than just water.

Cassie babbled on Coulson’s lap, the keys in her hands now. She shook them at Coulson and May leaned back, tilting her face up upwards.

“Where do you think you want to live?” Skye asked, her fingers flying over the keyboard.

Fitz found Jemma’s eyes again, seeking confirmation of what they’d talked about the night before when both of them had been too nerve-wracked to sleep. She smiled and nodded.

“We thought maybe we’d give here a try,” Fitz said.  “A new city for a new family.”

“Cool, when you have an address I can get all this sent to you.”

Josh pressed a hand to his stomach. “Hey, anyone want pizza?”

****

Jemma walked into her new house, Fitz following behind her, carrying Cassie in her car seat.

Coulson had sent her a message a few days after they’d last seen him, saying that SHIELD was beyond grateful for unearthing the Hydra conspiracy and wished to furnish her and Fitz with a home and income, provided they continued to act as consultants for the agency.

It’d taken Jemma and Fitz about thirty seconds of hushed discussion to agree, and Jemma had sent Coulson an affirmative answer along with a link to a West Seattle house on the waterfront, saying she’d started here, but would keep looking. It’d been a joke. The home was nearly three million dollars.

She hadn’t realized exactly how grateful SHIELD was until Coulson had emailed back saying the home had been purchased in their names and ten years’ worth of property taxes placed in escrow.

That’d been yesterday.

This morning they’d packed what little they had into the mini-van, and, after Fitz had spent ten minutes playing with all the automated doors and seats, they’d followed the GPS directions to their new home. A very chipper real-estate agent had met them at the front door a few minutes ago and given the keys to them while saying that if they had any friends that needed homes, she’d be more than happy to help.

Now Jemma was staring at her polished hardwood floors, gleaming granite countertops, and high-end appliances.

“It’s nice,” Fitz said, setting Cassie down and turning slowly around. The light from the numerous large windows that faced the water fell on him and Cassie, making them glow.

Jemma didn’t even know what to say. Instead, she opened the French doors and walked out onto the stone patio and stared at Puget Sound, which was a choppy blue under the bright morning sun. “We live here,” she said in wonder as Fitz came to stand beside her. He’d taken Cassie out of her seat and was holding her. Cassie craned her neck, looking at the water.

He smiled. “Guess so.”

“A week ago…a week ago I thought I knew my place in the world,” Jemma said, watching gulls wheel in the breeze coming off the Sound. Their calls were raucous. “And now I have a baby, and a house…”

“And a boyfriend.” Fitz raised an eyebrow at her when she turned to face him.

“A boyfriend I love,” she said, hardly believing she dared to tell him, but it was the truth.

The teasing expression vanished from Fitz’s face, and his adam’s apple bobbed. “Love…love you too,” he rasped out. Jemma was so full of love and happiness that she thought she might burst.

“Buh,” Cassie said, wiggling in Fitz’s arms.

Jemma turned her back on the view and Fitz gathered her into a one-armed hug.

It was going to be odd, to be just them and Cassie making a life. Coulson had said the entire team would be stopping by frequently and a meeting with takeout was already planned for next week. Skye was eager to see the new place, and Coulson wanted to start working on the meaning of the rest of the message from the future.

“We don’t have any furniture,” Fitz said as she continued to snuggle against him, basking in his love and doing her best to give it back in equal measure. She loved the house, but he was her real home.

Jemma smiled against Fitz’s shoulder. “We need a bed.”

“Yes, uh, of course.”

“How else am I supposed to ravish you?”

She tilted her head back in time to watch Fitz turn bright red. He fumbled for a moment before pulling out his phone. “I guess we can use that credit card Coulson handed us and get one delivered.”

“How long before we can give Cassie a brother or sister, do you think?” she asked, smiling impishly.

Fitz’s fingers skittered over the screen of his phone. “Um, I’m sure they can deliver the mattress by this afternoon.”  He looked up and blinked at her. Even the tips of ears were glowing with his blush.

She had to suppress a laugh. Not exactly what she'd meant, but Cassie would need a nap. In her crib. In her room. Which would leave her mummy and daddy with some free time, which Jemma now had plans for.

She pressed a kiss to Fitz’s throat and then one to Cassie’s head. “Let’s take her inside,” Jemma murmured. The sea-scented wind was getting chilly.

Fitz followed her back into the house, still frowning at his phone. “Coulson just messaged me. He’s sending some blokes around tomorrow to transform the basement into a lab, says he’s already got something for us.”

“That sounds promising.” She most certainly didn’t want to be stuck with nothing to do, and she hoped the project would be terribly complicated and require long nights in the lab. Ones where she could grab Fitz and kiss him to her heart’s delight, before doing other things with him to the delight of body parts besides her heart.

Had he ordered a bed yet?

Cassie patted Fitz’s cheek, and he looked up from his phone to kiss her fingers. “Da,” she babbled to him.

Jemma beamed at Fitz and Cassie as he whispered to his daughter and she bounced in his arms.  The future was exciting and unwritten, and Jemma couldn’t wait to share it with her family.

The amount of love in her heart for them was so vast that it should be impossible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! :-D I'd love to hear your thoughts, whether you're reading this ten seconds or ten years after it's first posted! 
> 
> And I'm thinking I might not be quite done with this verse, and if you have any specific things you'd love to see, please let me know over on tumblr! (@sunalsolove)


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